Honor the Past
by Zerodius
Summary: Remember the fallen, avenge lost pride, uphold the cause, protect the future, honor the past.
1. The Dream Soured

**OFF:** I remember that years ago, I wrote a fanfic known as Beginning of the End which attempted to mix the anime and the games to form a single story. Although I had some popularity with it, I was a lot less experienced and although my knowledge of the games was good, my knowledge of the anime was very limited back then. Likewise, I adjusted my views of the setting and my portrayals of the characters, causing me to run into a dead end regarding the consistency of my characters.

Although I begun a remake, it crashed and burned due to having not waited until I had cemented the personality of the primary antagonist, causing me to write myself in a corner.

I have recently regained interest in the setting due to various factors both in canon and fanon and found myself wishing to write again... but although I think Beginning of the End could use a final version, I figured that I might as well work on a different idea.

This idea will use the anime setting as a primary base and involve Meta Knight, Kirby's mentor. But although there are a lot of Meta Knight-centric fics around, I hope that my idea will turn out to be original.

Please note that the prologue will be very dark. The fic will lighten up beyond the prologue chapters but I thought that warning people might be a good idea.

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><p><strong>HONOR THE PAST<strong>

PROLOGUE PHASE 1:

The Dream Soured

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><p>Months have passed since the final battle with Nightmare. The NME, the great galactic empire that had once been so close to conquering all of the known universe collapsed like a house of cards, its very society destroying itself in the wake of its ruler's death. Indeed, the Demon Beasts, lacking free will, floundered without orders and the few of Nightmare's followers that held free will, failed to keep the empire together, the once mighty NME separating into a serie of shrinking remnants that fought pointlessly over ever dwindling ressources.<p>

With the great threat passed, the alliance of planets and demon hunter organizations begun the long and arduous task of rebuilding the many civilizations that had been enslaved by the dark lord. Peace had returned to the galaxy and it was all thanks to Kirby and Meta Knight, the last of the Star Warriors.

Well, people credited the two but Meta Knight knew that it was Kirby who had fought and destroyed Nightmare when the destined time had come. He had trained him the best he could and in a way, the time of destiny had come much quicker than he had expected or hoped. The pink spherical creature was but a baby, a mere child and yet the fate of the entire galaxy had been put on his shoulders. It was more than such a young Star Warrior should have been asked to deal with, far more... in a way, it still surprised the older Star Warrior that his apprentice had managed to defeat the dark lord in such conditions.

Still, this meant that his task was fulfilled. With Nightmare defeated, the prophecy states that it will take a millenium before enough darkness has built up in the cosmic order for the dark lord to return to life. Until then, peace will reign.

A single question remained in the mind of the masked Star Warrior though. The prophecy had stated that Nightmare would not be defeated until three hundred years from now, the time that Kirby would have reached adulthood. Yet Nightmare was indeed dead, his grip over the world ruined. What effect would this have upon the cosmic order? Would the universe enjoy three extra centuries of peace? Or would the cycle continue or normal? Or... would this cause adverse consequences?

To be fair, he did not know. All that he knew was that it was now his task to train Kirby and to prepare the revival of the Star Warriors. The organization had been decimated by the war against Nightmare and it would take many generations for it to recover in time to face the revived NME. But still, he would be long dead by the time this issue came to pass as would be Kirby and everyone he knew. This was for the distant future, for the descendants of their descendants to face when the time comes.

At long last, he could come at peace with his past and forget everything. The war is won, the struggle is over. He can now sit in the shade of a tree, close his eyes, and enjoy the breeze while Kirby enjoy his childhood. No need to train so hard anymore, indeed. Just... resting and letting him live, playing with all his friends...

Within its sheat, the living blade Galaxia, glowed silently. Although the masked knight did not know it as he drifted into the land of dreams, the blade's cosmic nature resonated...

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><p>Deep within cosmic emptiness, far from the light of stars, far from the touch of life, slept a power older than any civilization, predating the very cycle of life and death. An ancient power... ancient and terrible.<p>

In the vacuum of the cosmic order, Nightmare's destruction caused a great void, expanding through space, the power of darkness collapsing upon itself. Without the usual build-up of darkness caused by his continued reign, the shockwave tore through the fabric of reality and reached the very edge, far from the eyes of the living.

The universe shuddered, the shockwave tearing into the fine void that separated emptiness from reality.

Brought out of its lifeless sleep, the power stirred and breathed. The very universe shuddered, retracted, crawled out of reach of the power as it reached out motionlessly, its icy, thoughtless fingers reaching to the warm light of life. Existence still elluded the power but already, fragments of the eternal, timeless void formed. A vile cancer gripped the very fabric of reality, blemishes that the darkness could not stamp out. The blotted the light of the stars, consuming and voiding anything in their paths like a malignant disease.

Slowly, so slowly that it was almost unnoticeable to any living thing, the universe's shaking begun to slow down... bit by bit... ever so slowly...

The gap between the universe and the power begun to close...

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><p>Meta Knight's eyes shot open. A strange dream had filtered into his mind, a dream made of strange concepts that were practically incomprehensible. A dream that spoke of infinity, of the relationship between cosmic eternity and the void before and after existence. A dream that spoke of a terrible, long forgotten secret. He did not know why such a dream would be remembered. The feeling of vague threats was not uncommon and was often not based on reality, especially in a mind scarred by past experiences like his own. Nightmare is dead, the great dark lord and embodiment of fear was vainquished. The universe will remain at peace for at least a millenium.<p>

* * *

><p>Dedede's eyes closed for a moment, his entire frame relaxing, his chin falling on the open palm of his paw. The blinding lights of his castle's throne room begun to fade and then, out of a sudden, he jerked himself awake, eyes shooting open, chasing the sleep out of his body.<p>

Ever since the NME had been exposed as a front for Nightmare's operations, the stock holders for the company had withdrawn all of their fundings simultaneously resulting in the total collapse of the company. He had heard that pockets of Demon Beasts still existed but with Nightmare's death and the NME discredited, no one had risen to replace NME's old trade.

This had caused Dedede to realize just how dreadfully his life as a king was. He had relied on Demon Beasts for so many things and now that they were gone, he found himself with barely a motivation to stay awake. Sure, he knew Kirby was still out there, being praised as a hero while everyone ignored him but without any Demon Beasts, he was forced to ration what little servants he had left and accept that the cursed pink puffball was now untouchable.

Still, he had to stay awake. Excessive sleep had begun to make his eyes go red, his eyesight weakening from lack of use. If he didn't have to be forced to take eye drops, something he hated, he had to discipline himself into staying awake. This was no easy task, what not with the lack of anything happening.

Still, he did as he did every day, pressing the button on the remote on his throne, turning to the tall blue monitor...

As usual, only static answered. He sighed loudly and depressedly, looking down at his feet, his various servants looking at the penguin. Escargoon and the other servants couldn't help but feel pity for their majesty. Sure, he has always been a bully and one could say that this was karma in a way... but he looked so pitiful now, sitting on his throne alone day after day, none of his decisions changing the lines of anyone, sleeping away his life...

Even Waddle Doo, Dedede's aged and desillusioned guard captain, was starting to regret the situation. He didn't pity Dedede per see, he was glad to be finally able to have civil conversations with the inhabitants and being free to finally do his actual job, which was keeping the peace, rather than clean up after Demon Beasts. But it had been ages since Dedede had cared about any of his reports, given any orders, or anything. Besides, the state of the king was ruining the morale of the army and although Waddle Doo hated to admit it, he kind of... felt vulnerable knowing that they no longer had Demon Beasts to augment the army's strength.

Escargoon, the strange snail-like creature that acted as the king's advisor, stood at the side of the throne, thinking deeply. There had to be a way to cheer their king up. He then thought about the various ways a king could entertain itself...

Make a visit to the town and interact with the citizens? After years of bullying them, they openly hated him and prefered him in his castle. Then maybe more banquets? No, the king ate a lot and it would both be insanely expensive and very unhealthy for the king to abuse them. Besides, Dedede may get sick of eating.

It was then that an idea came to him. A jester! Most courts use a jester to entertain the king!

"My majesty!" he exclaimed.

The voice of the eldely advisor broke the depressing silence causing every single living being in the castle to turn its gaze toward him. The king turned to look at his advisor, his interest obviously grabbed.

"Why won't we hire a court jester? Surely will this bring some entertainment to our little fortress and help pass time? This non-stop silence can only be bad for your health, after all!"

The king slumped into his chair and adjusted his position, rubbing his chin with one paw, deep in thought. Although he wasn't the smartest monarch, Dedede had found himself alone with his thoughts very often since the NME's collapse, allowing him much pratice when it came to using his brain.

King Dedede was maybe more of a self-proclaimed king bully than a proper monarch but if there was an aspect of being king that he did well, it was knowing the inhabitants of his land. Unfortunately, this also meant that he knew that no one would accept to work for him as a jester. Sure, in the past he'd ignore that fact and try to bribe or bully them into going along with it but without Demon Beasts, there was no way to force anyone into becoming his jester and he knew that no one in his castle could act as a jester.

In such a case, his usual solution would be to call a Demon Beast to fill the gap... but sadly, that option was out. Thus, he sighed deeply and slumped into his chair again, depressed and sleepy.

Escargoon, too, deflated as he noticed his king's reaction and also realized the flaw behind his suggestion.

Indeed, it seemed that this was set to be yet another common day in this post-NME era in Dreamland...

... until the transmitter's monitor, which previously displayed static, suddenly came to life.

At this moment, everyone in the room turned to look at it. Dedede half-expected to see the logo of the NME and the usual salesman but was greeted by a... very different sight. Instead, there seemed to be a white background with a single symbol in the center, at the top, replacing the NME logo. It was a red zero with a black z crossing through it, forming a strange emblem of sorts. At the spot where the NME salesman would be was instead a strange round-ish figure with jet black spiky hair, a visor that allowed one to see yellow eyes, and a purple cloak covering it. No arms could be seen on the strange figure's body and the details in the cloak's opening seemed kind of... vague somehow.

"Huh? Who are you? How did you contact me?" called Dedede, definitely awake although annoyance had filtered into his mind.

"Salutations. We assume you are the great, noble king Dedede, yes?" compared to the NME salesman's warm, joyful tone, the figure had a slow, oily tone of voice that seemed befitting of a gentleman...

"Yeah, that's me. Who are you? What do ya want?"

The figure somehow adjusted its visor despite having no visible arms or hands and then, blinked underneath it. Escargoon squinted but for some reason, he couldn't shake off the feeling that despite the visor, there was only one eye rather than two underneath it...

"We are the Dark Matter Collective. After the collapse of the NME Enterprise, we have recognized the opportunity that this represents for us. It is our desire to take over the trade of Demon Beasts all over the galaxy."

Escargoon rubbed his chin and turned to his king. Dedede seemed over-joyed but the advisor remembered all too well how the previous venture of that kind had ended. "My majesty, surely you must remember how the NME repaid our loyalty to them as customers, months ago? I am not convinced."

The king froze, the memories of Nightmare's assault on his kingdom souring his mood. Taking ahold of his feelings, the king adjusted his position yet again and stared at the figure.

"Demon Beasts, ya? Well, you better not be another front for Nightmare, well the late Nightmare's dirty little operations. We got swindled once, I'm not gonna be swindled twice!"

The figure seemed to have expected this. It posed tall and proudly, staring down the penguin and his advisor. "Oh, do not be worried, great, noble king. Unlike the NME, the Dark Matter Collective is not only opening the market of Demon Beasts once more but shall enter it as an ethical, legitimate business. We are in no way related to Nightmare and his operations, instead using our own technologies to produce high-quality, obedient Demon Beasts."

Dedede and his advisor looked at each others. The various Waddle Dees shifted incomfortably while Waddle Doo stood in the doorway, staring at the monitor...

"Really? Well, you got a Demon Beast that could work for me as a jester, then?"

The figure nodded slowly. "Yes, noble king. We have a vast inventory of Demon Beasts who can fulfill a great variety of roles and tasks from lowly janitors to expert assassins, including loyal bodyguards and even Demon Beasts that can help in energy generation and even the recycling of used products. Whenever your need be great or small, the Dark Matter Collective can fulfill it."

And at that moment, that wicked spark that had died months ago in the penguin's eyes was once more ignited. His expression deformed into a smirk for the first time in months and thoughts and plans long forgotten were started to be rebuilt in his mind.

"Say... now that you mention it... I have a... pest... to get rid of. Alright! I'll take two Demon Beasts. One to be my jester, the other one, I want your strongest one!"

The figure simply looked at Dedede for a moment. The pause was very noticeable and yet, no change of expression came to the mysterious entity. It was as if the king's words had not even registered. Dedede was about to repeat his request when suddenly, it spoke up.

"Ha yes. So you wish for one of our fine Demon Beasts to... exterminate... that pest for you?"

"Yeah! Exactly that! What's your best Demon Beast?" replied the king.

The figure seemed to stare into empty air for a moment and then refocused its gaze toward the king. "Well, we do not wish to bother a potential customer but pray tell... what is the target which you want eliminated?"

That... was a strange question. The NME salesman had never asked that kind of question. This made the king raise an eyebrow but well, he chose to carry on anyway.

"It's a really annoying pest. Small, pink, round, squeal 'poyo' all the freakin' time. It inhale all the food that comes its way and can also eat up creatures to gain super powers. It's about as small as a Waddle Dee. Why did you ask anyway?"

At that moment, the figure's gaze sharpened, boring through the king. Dedede's smirk vanished, finding himself momentarily startled and intimidated by such a gaze. He blinked but the figure had that same generic, somewhat uncaring gaze as before now...

"Hmmm... we see. Good. You see, noble king, we, the Dark Matter Collective, unlike the unlamented NME Enterprise, are concerned with the quality of the products we sell to our customers. We needed a description of the target as to sell to you the Demon Beast that will be perfect for you, that will exterminate your pest, this Kirby, with no chance of failure."

Dedede didn't seemed convinced though. "Yeah yeah. And what about my jester?"

"In fact... we have the perfect Demon Beast for you. Your teleporter is still working, is it not?"

"Yeah yeah. What about my jester?" repeated the king, not paying attention.

It was then that the NME teleporter suddenly came to life. Everyone in the room braced for whatever kind of Demon Beast would appear. Escargoon calculated the distance between himself and the closest cover, Waddle Doo put a paw on his sword, the various Waddle Dees made sure they knew where the nearest spear racks were just in case...

But instead of a crazy-looking monstrosity, what appeared was... some kind of adorable light purple ball-like being with big clown shoes, a jester hat, a little red bow tie, and massive cute eyes. Not only but it was also bouncing on a large beach ball, a smile on its face.

"We introduce to you Marx, one of our finest creations. This Demon Beast is not only a splendid jester but an extremely skilled and deadly assassin."

Dedede glared at the small jester-like Demon Beast as it balanced on its ball, smiling innocently. Escargoon and the various Waddle Dees stared at it. Sure, not all Demon Beasts are huge but all those sent by the NME at least looked kind of fearsome in some way or another. That Marx thing was so innocent and harmless-looking that even Kirby probably looked scarier than it.

"Hey. You're sure that this thing can do it?" asked Dedede to the black figure.

"Satisfaction guaranteed." stated the figure. "We guarantee that within one week, that Kirby pest you speak of will be... eliminated. As a show of good will, this first Demon Beast will be completely free. Likewise, if in one week Kirby is still not... gone... then the second Demon Beast shall also be free."

"Hey! That is a pretty good deal, I like it!" went Dedede, recovering his smile.

The figure's gaze turned to Marx. "Now Marx, we expect results from you. Serve your master and do not shame the collective."

"As you command. The will of the collective is my will." Not unsurprisingly, Marx's voice was just as high-pitched and adorable as one might expect of such a cute-looking Demon Beast. What chilled absolutely everyone in the room was the droning, completely emotionless monotone with which it answered the figure.

"Will that be all, sir?" asked the figure, this time to the king.

Dedede scratched the back of his head. That was quite a crazy situation but he guessed it was a good deal. So he got ahold of himself and then nodded. "Yeah! I think I like ya! So I call you again in one week, right? Give you my appreciation?"

"That will not be necessary." said the figure. "We shall contact you again, noble king. Until then, the Dark Matter Collective salute its customer."

And at that moment, the monitor's transmission ended, the display blackening and then turning back to static. With the transmission terminated, Dedede shut down the machine and then turned to see Marx, still balancing on his ball.

"Hey hey hey!" he called. "You're quite the gloomy king, aren't you? Bothered by that big bad Kirby, aren't you? Not to worry... I can fix that easily!"

Dedede rose an eyebrow yet again. Demon Beasts didn't tend to be very chatty in the past so he was actually surprised that this one spoke to him first. Still, after all the failures he saw in the past, one that had a bit more initiative couldn't hurt so he accepted the situation, getting off his throne and standing up to get a better look at his newest servant.

"Yeah, I was told that. So what kind of powers will you use to clobber that Kirby?"

"Well..." Marx said, looking away as he thought for a second. "It vary. Open casket or closed casket?"

This made the king and everyone else raise an eyebrow. Noticing the collective lack of understanding, Marx rolled his eyes and elaborated. "What I mean is... when I'm done with him, he's still recognizable or I utterly smash him?"

The king brought a paw to his chin. Frankly, he hadn't really thought about it. On one hand, Kirby being beaten up to such a point that not even his friends would be able to recognize him would do a wonder to satisfy Dedede's desire for revenge. On another hand, this also meant that he wouldn't be able to parade the insufferable pest's corpse around town to demonstrate that the pink thingy wasn't the hero they all thought it was.

So he made his decision. "Still recognizable."

The jester nodded and then smirked evilly. Now that was an expression more worthy of a Demon Beast!... although the fact that it was so small and so cute still made Dedede wonder if the Dark Monster collection whatever wasn't overstimating their creations. Marx looked like he couldn't harm a fly.

"Right then. Then, my majesty, I shall set out to rid you of your little problem. There will be no need for other orders. I'm a pretty self-sufficient Demon Beast, you see! Just relax and in a few days, your Kirby problem will be gone forever!"

"It better be! Or the king shall be unhappy!" said Escargoon, deciding it was the moment to assert his position.

Frustratingly enough, the intimidation attempt didn't work at all. Marx simply chuckled to himself and bounced on his ball, making his way out of the throne room, slowly but surely heading toward town...

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><p>A day had passed since Dedede had received his newest Demon Beast. Everything was still as normal as it had ever been for months now but for some reason, Fumu couldn't help but feel creeped out. Apparently, an adorable jester-like person constantly balancing on a ball had been hanging around town, asking about Kirby. The questions it asked didn't seem to make sense. What did Kirby like, who his friends were, what did he wish to do when he was older, who his parents were, what was his favorite food or favorite sport... it really, really seemed interested in Kirby for some reason.<p>

On one hand, the questions had seemed innocent but after returning from playing all day with her brother and Kirby in the fields, she had passed by the throne room and heard Dedede chuckling to himself. It had been that weird jester thing, discussing... something... with the penguin. She had tried to overhear what they were saying but for some strange reason, all the jester did was telling the king jokes.

She had a bad feeling about this. It was just so... weird.

She sighed to herself. Without proof she could not accuse the jester thing of anything and who knows, maybe it was just really her own mind playing up? After all, Nightmare is gone. She was there, by Kirby's side, when he was destroyed after all...

"Hey hey hey! What's the matter? You seem kind of blue!"

Fumu was startled and glanced quickly only to find that jester thing she had overheard telling jokes to Dedede. It balanced on its ball right by her room's door, its huge, blank eyes staring at her. Although surprised she quickly got ahold of herself, staring fearlessly at the strange thing.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" she called, not having any patience at the moment for what could be potential trouble.

"Whoa! I'm sorry..." went the jester-like thing, slowly slipping off of its ball before smiling at her. "The name's Marx. You're Fumu, right? Kirby's friend?"

"Marx? So you're the one who've been asking all kinds of weird questions about Kirby!" she said, clenching a fist. Such assurance, it must be a Demon Beast!

"Yep! Kirby's kind of famous after all. He beat Nightmare and saved the galaxy! That sounds really awesome, really!" he said before his smile faded, his expression turning sad. "You know, I'm a newcomer to this planet and I don't really have friends at the moment. The king hired me as a jester but well, I've been wondering about becoming Kirby's friend. He does sound like a nice guy from what everyone told me after all..."

This... was not what she had been expecting. She didn't know how to react.

"I know it's weird but a famous person like Kirby... I didn't know if he'd want to talk to me. So I asked around to see if I could find a way to talk to him, befriend him..."

Marx got back on his ball, his sadness melting back into a huge grin. "Say, you're Fumu, right?"

The girl nodded, not sure what to say at this point.

"Maybe you could introduce me to him? Then, maybe, we could all be friends! I'd like that!" his grin faded a bit. "I'd like some friends after all..."

Fumu looked carefully at Marx. The way he stared at her, his eyes full of hope... she guessed it explained everything about the whole situation. After all, it is rather easy to forget when she interact daily with Kirby and see that he's really just a nice kid like her. On most of the planets around the universe, Kirby must probably be seen as some kind of super hero.

"Right then, I will introduce you to Kirby. If you just want to make friends, then why not? We can always use more friends."

She smiled at the jester-like entity. He stopped bouncing on his ball, smiling at the girl widely in gratitute...

"Oh! Yeah! Sorry for standing in front of your room like that. It's rather late right? I'll get going then! See ya!"

"See you." she waved goodbye as Marx went on his way.

Well... she guessed that was it for that mystery...

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><p>Yet another beautiful day, yet another day spent playing in the fields. Fumu had planned to spend a part of the day just reading by a tree's shade but her brother had convinced her to go play with him and Kirby so here she was, in the fields. As usual Meta Knight had come to watch for about a few minutes and then sleep. Another typical day in Dreamland after the collapse of the NME.<p>

Or so it was until, after finishing a game of ball, the three kids saw someone approach in the distance, from the town. For a moment, there was confusion as to who it could be but Fumu quickly recognized the figure as it grew close enough for her to notice it.

"Hey! Marx! Over there!" she called.

Marx sped up as much as he could without jumping off his ball.

"Hey hey hey!"

Bun, Fumu's brother, and Kirby both stood there. The newcomer was quite strange although Bun was less surprised than the pink Star Warrior. After all, Fumu had mentionned the jester-like person and everyone in town had spoken of the various questions he had asked. Still, he was rather surprised to see that Fumu's description of him had been no exageration.

"Fumu? That's Marx, right?" said Bun.

The girl nodded, motionning to him. "Yeah, this is him!"

At this moment, Marx looked extremely awkward, having all those gazes upon him. He leaped off his ball and dragging it around with him by pushing into it with one foot, approaching Kirby.

"Errrrhm... the name's Marx! I'm... really glad to meet you! You... you wanna play?"

The pink puffball blinked rapidly, looking the weird jester over. Then as Marx pushed the ball into his small fingerless limbs, Kirby smiled very widely.

"Poyo!" he went before grabbing the ball and throwing it at Bun. The ball was thrown back, Fumu intercepting it this time.

Meta Knight watched. He had noticed the strange one coming over and had watched very carefully, making sure not to miss any details. There was something that bothered him about the situation. For that Marx being to appear suddenly despite no spaceships coming to Dreamland lately, this made the knight very suspicious regarding what the jester might be. However, fact is, Nightmare is gone and with him, the NME Enterprise. How could Marx be a Demon Beast if there was no one to send Demon Beast to Dedede to begin with?

Still, he kept his suspicions and stared at Marx, watching him, just in case.

Minutes begun to pass and as the game ended, Marx suggested another one. Yet more minutes passed... and another game came. Then another one... then another... then another... then another... Minutes became hours and it dawned upon Meta Knight that if that was a Demon Beast, it was sure taking its sweat time and bothering with a lot of stuff that would normally drive Demon Beasts beserk. Demon Beasts do not have hearts, they can't feel friendship and don't care about such things.

And by the time the sunbegun to set, Marx had not attacked or shown any signs of malice. In fact, Marx took back his ball, declared that he wishes to play again tomorrow, and then was on his way. It was... strange. Why would a Demon Beast go through such things?

Maybe he should just investigate the circumstances of Marx's arrival, just to be sure...

* * *

><p>The week progressed quickly. Already, it was four days since Marx's arrival. Marx had continued his visits to town but instead of questions, he had simply hanged around, being friendly to everyone. By then, he had begun to play with Kirby regularly and he was starting to become part of the background. It seemed that his appearance had brought good to all of Dreamland, not only giving Kirby a new friend to play with but also cheering up the king. By now, rumors of how funny Marx could be had leaked from the castle and the jester had enlightened the population with his sense of humor. Indeed, Marx was quite the jester.<p>

Meta Knight could not help it though. He had searched for days for an answer and while he could usually get Dedede to betray the fact that he had summoned a Demon Beast, the penguin king had just thrown jokes about Meta Knight's age or him being paranoid instead. Likewise, it seemed that no one knew where Marx came from or how he came in Dreamland. It seemed he had just appeared out of nowhere and begun to befriend everyone. It was madening.

Even Sword and Blade had begun to take a liking to Marx. It was just something about the way he spoke... and it made Meta Knight suspicious. For all his innocense, he was convinced that Marx is far smarter than he appears. But this still held a fundamental question... if Marx is an enemy, why do he bother befriending everyone? No Demon Beast he knew would have such patience...

Yet another day without answers. It was starting to grate on the knight. He started to make his way toward his room to rest and think over the situation when he heard a noise that was starting to become familiar in all of the castle and its surroundings. Namely, it was the sound of Marx's ball as he bounced on it.

"Hey hey hey, knight guy!"

He turned to face the strange being. He would not be swayed. He would find the truth.

"You look kind of gloomy. There's a problem, right?"

"Who are you truly? How did you come here?" said the knight, turning to face the jester proper. "What are you after?"

"Still not trusting me, right?" said the jester, just as happy as before.

Meta Knight's silence was all that Marx needed. He slid off his ball and stared at the masked knight very carefully for a moment... "So you wanna know right? Fine then, I'll show you."

Marx stepped back, closed his eyes... and then, there was a blue flash of light, like some kind of vortex, like the very air splitting in two and reuniting and suddenly Marx was back on his ball. He opened his eyes and begun to balance again on his ball.

"I'm able to teleport. It normally got a short range but I was able to hijack one of the NME's old networks to make it here. As for why I came... I told everyone already. Jobs for jesters are not necessarely easy to get and I wanted to meet the famous Kirby, become his friend. I see what they said about his mentor was true too..."

Meta Knight glared at the jester.

"You should cheer up, knight guy. Just smile and relax, okay?"

And with that said, the jester was once again bouncing away. So the jester had teleported all the way to Pop Star, taking advantage of the teleportation path created by Nightmare. On one hand, that would explain how he appeared in Dreamland despite having no spaceship. On another hand, he couldn't shake that strange feeling about Marx.

... but then, he had spent time with Kirby for four days and had not harmed him in any way. All he had done was playing with him. In fact, he had been nice and helpful to the townfolk and even he had to admit that getting Dedede out of his gloomy mood had actually been a good thing. The king no longer spoke of his hatred of Kirby or of wishing for Demon Beasts. He was acting pleasant for the first time in, well, pretty much ever.

Maybe it was just paranoia, as Dedede has stated. Why would a Demon Beast do such things when they have no hearts? This made no sense...

He guessed all he could do now was go back to his room and think it over...

* * *

><p>Last day of the week since Marx arrived...<p>

"Hey hey hey! It's me!"

"Poyo!" called Kirby, Fumu and Bun also waving as Marx arrived as usual. It seemed that he had become part of the routine by now.

"So what are we going to do today? I say we play ball!" said Bun.

"Nah!" went Fumu, wagging a finger at her brother. "I say we play a word game! I've got to have that rematch with Marx!"

"Poyo Poy!" chirped Kirby happily, not caring which game they would play. Either way, it would be fun.

The jester smiled sweetly. "Yeah! We definitely should! But say, it's been about a week since I arrived, right?"

There were nods from everyone. Marx carried on. "Nice! Then I got a surprise for all of you! Come on!"

"A surprise? I like surprises!" went Bun.

Kirby jumped on his feet. "Poyo! Yay! Poyo!" It seemed he agreed.

Meta Knight watched as the four friends left the fields together and headed toward the various fields of vegetables and fruits grown by the inhabitants of Cappy Town. The masked knight already knew why Marx was leading them there. Yesterday, he had spoken with some of the city residents and they had revealed that Marx had spoken with the owner of the watermelon fields, using the money from his job at Dedede's castle to buy a whole watermelon field for Kirby to eat.

At this point, it was really obvious that Marx was sincere. He had countless opportunities to attack the town during the week and his attitude had never changed. In a way, Meta Knight kicked himself for suspecting him in the first place. After all, with the NME gone and the remnants falling apart, it was only a matter of time before someone took advantage of the technology Nightmare left behind for better causes. And well, if Demon Beasts could be teleported then why not normal people?

So he decided to doze off.

As for the four, they soon recognized the location. Marx had been warned so many times not to bring Kirby here but she guessed that he knew already. After all, it was becoming apparent that he was much smarter than he appeared.

As they reached the fields of watermelons, Kirby stared at all of the fresh, tasty-looking fruits. He could feel himself salivating from the thoughts of all those watermelons and could barely keep himself from inhaling them. Sure, Fumu would be angry and Bun sad but so many watermelons...

Marx was still bouncing on his ball, smiling happily. "Here we are! I spoke with the owner of this watermelon field and agreed to let me buy the field. As a show of thanks for accepting me... here is my first surprise, to Kirby! All of those watermelons are yours!"

"Poyo?" went Kirby. Really, they were all his?

Fumu, her, stared at the jester. So that was the big surprise he had been talking about? Noticing the expressions of both Fumu and her brother, Marx smiled.

"Don't worry, I have a surprise for you too! Once Kirby is done with his, which shouldn't take long!"

Kirby didn't hesitate. He ran forward and then, opened his mouth wide as he inhaled. The sheer strength of his inhaling tore the watermelons out of the fields, causing them to fly toward the pink puffball and sink into his mouth, one by one. It was a whole field, dozens of them, all of them delicious. And true to Marx's words, the gluttonous pink puffball inhaled with such enthusiasm that within a few minutes, every watermelon was gone.

Satisfied, Kirby stepped back and then sat down, smiling as he rubbed his belly curve...

"Alrighty. Now for my second surprise." Marx said, his tone suddenly darkening, his smile deforming into a hateful, sadistic smirk.

It was then that a golden three-fingered limb emerged from his back, each finger ending with a long, sharp-looking claw. His claws grasped the characteristic shape of a detonator.

Fumu's and Bun's eyes widened in horror.

click.

The serie of explosions was deafening. Kirby's eyes widened in pure pain as the sheer strength of the explosive watermelons' explosions forced his mouth open. The chain reaction thrown him upward and he began flying like some kind of pink round rocket, flying straight into the sky and toward the town...

"And now, for the third surprise!" Marx's cutesy voice had nothing gentle in it anymore, the joyful glee now psychopatic.

And with a tearing sound, Marx's back exploded in purple energy, the two golden limbs reveiling themselves to be massive golden bat-like wings, the wings' membranes being reflective hexagones somehow. A massive, disgusting tongue hung from the deformed grin and the bow tie turned into a golden necklace, the central red gem glowing darkly. Hovering over the two, Marx grinned evilly.

"You... you..." stuttered Fumu in pure shock.

"Too easy! It was really too easy! What did your parents feed to you, everyone of you in this dumb place? Gullible soup? I had more difficulty tricking mice!" he mocked.

"K-KIRBY!" called Fumu, running after the direction the pink puffball had flew in while her brother lingered, staring horrified at the figure that moments earlier had been his friend.

"Wh... why Marx..." he whispered before running to follow his sister.

Marx didn't care though. His mission is completed. Now all he needs to do is confirm the kill. Without wasting any time, the Demon Beast beat his wings, sending himself flying into the blue skies...

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><p><strong>TO BE CONTINUED...<strong>


	2. The Dream Ends

**OFF:** This is the second half of the prologue. I originally thought of merging it to the first half since by my standarts it's actually quite short but since the cut is, in a way, rather symbolic to the story I decided to keep the two halves separated.

I also noticed there wasn't much in the way of reviews. I don't mind that much actually but this is a note for all readers: if you wish to comment, suggest something, or simply have questions about the story then don't hesitate to leave them as reviews. I will reply to your comments and answer your questions in the 'off' section of the next chapter or reply via PM if it involve elements I'd rather not reveal to everyone.

I hope that if you enjoyed the first half enough to carry on to the second one, you will also appreciate this one.

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><p><strong>HONOR THE PAST<strong>

PROLOGUE PHASE 2:

The Dream Ends

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><p>The memory had not left the knight. It never would. As much as he wanted to forget, his own mind would rebel against his wishes and constantly taunt him with the knowledge. As the thoughts were actual memories, not even the Fountain of Dreams could erase them, his mind tortured by the knowledge. There were so many reasons and so much that he wished to forget...<p>

In a way, everyone in Dreamland had been foolish. Kirby was not ready to be a hero, he had never been. He was but a child and although the sparks were more than obvious as he stood up for those he cared, none of this drive was backed by thought. Heroic spirit alone, even mixed to the unique power of the Copy Ability, could not drive the pink wonder forever.

They should have known, should have predicted it. Nightmare had grown complacent in his superiority. Having defeated all of the Star Warriors except for his traitorous runaway experiment, the incarnation of darkness had never really bothered with the sole survivors of the once mighty galactic force. He had been content to simply rule his empire while his servants sent expandable monster after expandable monster to die at Kirby's paws, never really thinking about it.

But although Meta Knight's gaze had fixated itself upon Nightmare and on the task of training the infant, he now realized that he should have been far more worried about King Dedede... for as much of a fool that he was, he had demonstrated the truw weakness of the young Star Warrior.

He should have acted. When King Dedede had pulled off the so-called prank of placing explosives inside watermelons, Meta Knight should have realized that this trick could have killed Kirby and that the only reason he lived beyond this day was that Dedede had not wished for the Star Warrior's death in a serious manner at this moment. Most importantly, it meant that if even one as dim-witted as the king could exploit such a weakness, then others could as well.

But he had turned a blind eye to this and allowed his focus of Nightmare to blind him to the true dangers of what he had witnessed.

Nightmare had been, in retrospective, just as much of a fool as his servants. Whatever dark enemy that Marx served, they obviously knew their trade far better. Their infiltrator had been skillful, patient, and convincing. The blow had been carefully prepared and as sudden and lethal as it could be. Even Marx's own revelation was a far cry from the clumsy confessions that Demon Beasts gave when angered. With the entire town befriended, Marx's true nature and his declarations unleashed disorder through all of the inhabitants. That one so friendly, so dedicated to helping them could have been an enemy all along destroyed the sense of stability that had reigned ever since the defeat of Nightmare. Indeed, rather than clear things up the revelation of Marx's true nature had only made things worse, just as he had planned.

Fear, sorrow, confusion, so many negative feelings haunted the town now. But more than anything else was the cry for help and the feeling of total vulnerability. When Kirby triumphed over the dark emperor, the people of Dreamland thought themselves invincible, believed that no evil could touch them. Meta Knight had also believed this, dismissing his own suspicions because of Nightmare's demise. Now, this dark enemy had dealt a heavy blow to the cause of all demon hunters through the universe. By striking at the core of the weakened light and killing off its champion, the last of the pure-blooded Star Warriors, this dark enemy had proven that it did not need Nightmare to unleash terror upon all of galactic civilization.

All of those thoughts warred within the mind of the one who was now truly the last of the Star Warriors. The memory was burnt into his brain and refused to go away, refused to let him sleep.

He remembered being awakened by the screams of Kirby's friends, by the deafening explosions, seeing the strange pulsating comet that headed toward town. He remembered the nameless fear and the way he had rushed toward the place where the comet crashed.

It haunted his dreams now.

The cratter in the center of town where the comet had landed... the familiar feeling as he remembered that moment of weakness Kirby had and the similarities. But the explosions had been louder, more numerous, the comet flying faster. When Dedede had tricked Kirby, it had been to humilate him. When Marx tricked Kirby, it was to kill him.

He could not shake the vision away, the vision of his pupil, lying at the bottom of the cratter, the air filled with the stench of burnt flesh. The explosives had torn through his body with such strength that his mouth, usually a soft pink not unlike his skin, had turned to a jagged, blackened surface, half of ashes and half of dust. The crimson pool in which the infant laid and his constant whimperings had caused the knight to freeze.

He did not speak, he did not move. He stared, not hearing the dozens of voices or even the cries for help of the infant's friends. He did not even feel, did not budge as his own knaves tried to make him react, to make him do something.

There was only him, Kirby, and the hollowness that consumed his mind. Screams filled his ears as he recognized the situation, remembered the past.

So many bodies... so much blood... so much death...

... so much failure...

He had failed his pupil as thoroughly as he had failed everyone else he had once called his friend. Just as they had depended upon him to help protect them, the young Star Warrior had looked to his mentor for protection. He had failed him just as he had failed his fellow Star Warriors back then. Just as he had failed everyone. He should have prepared Kirby, he should have helped him. Such a trap shouldn't have worked.

But there was also this other feeling, this great emptiness that threatened the knight the longer he stared. The way he could still recognize the child's traits despite the burns, the way it stared at him with tears in its eyes, the sheer pain and the whimpers directed at him...

He had helped train him, teach him, saw him as he had begun his growth. Everything he had attached himself to had been taken away from him and the Star Warrior had appeared literally from the sky as if to fill a void. Now... that child was gone, like everything else.

The cries for help were desesperate. The town's doctor was not exactly an expert, especially not with third-degree burns and injuries born from explosive shockwaves. Every ally they had gained, they called upon. Kirby was transported to the stars where experts would look after him. He was the champion of the light, the one who had destroyed Nightmare. Letting him die was not an option for his death would destroy the morale of the rebuilding civilizations and give strength to the NME remnants.

It did not matter in the end. Meta Knight barely found the strength to care. Something had broken. As he had stared at the child in that cratter, he had recognized the signs. Those were not injuries that one could recover from, especially not with the time it took before Kirby could be brought to a proper expert. He was already dead the moment he had crashed back at Cappy Town, the corpse just hadn't stopped moving yet.

How many memories had he hidden behind his mask? He had put so much hope in the kid only to fail him so miserably. How could he call himself a knight when he couldn't protect anyone?

Fumu had still insisted he remain at the side of Kirby. At this point, considering the extensive damage, it had been said that bringing him back to perfect health was impossible and they would settle on just making him recover. That was the official information. Meta Knight had been told, in private, the truth.

The damage was too extensive. A major portion of Kirby's organs had effectively been turned to ashes, with most of what's left melded and burnt together into something that could no longer support life. No medecine in the galaxy could repair a body this extensively broken. All they could do was remove the pain and wait until his critical organs failed.

Sitting in a chair, Meta Knight mulled over everything that had happened, the beeping of the heart monitor connected to Kirby being the only thing that broke the silence...

"Me... Meta?"

He did not know what caused it exactly. He had always assumed it had been Nightmare before but at times, he would find himself in a void, an endless plain of glowing blackness under an infinite horizon. Alone in a dream-like state and yet, still conscious without being awake. It wasn't the proper dreamscape, that he knew for certain but it was a strange dimension.

Stars, the meals he had, objects that belonged to people he knew, statues commemorating events that had some significance, even if minimal, to him... in a way, it seemed like a reflection. Yet, he had met others in this realm at times. What was the true nature of this realm? He had never learnt and never really cared, assuming it to be just one more illusion.

Now, once more, he was within this place. The weak voice of his pupil called and he realized he was not alone. He could see him, sitting on the black surface of the featureless ground. Although tired-looking, he was as he remembered him, as he had been before Marx's trap. Round, pink, with rosy cheeks and blue eyes, like some kind of walking gum ball. Yet he could see how tired he looked. His voice was weak, exhausted...

"Poy..."

The Star Warrior child slowly got up and despite the great efforts that it took him, walked to his mentor. There was a great sadness in his eyes and the knight did not know what to do of it. So he stood, silent...

"Poy... so... so tired... don't want to sleep. S-so tired..."

He could see him begin to cry, tears streaming down the cheeks. He almost seemed desesperate despite his state. Meta Knight felt a nameless fear and dread rise within him. He... could guess why he was having this vision...

"You fought well. Thanks to you, Nightmare is gone..."

This caused a strong reaction, startling the knight. Kirby frowned almost in panic, shaking his head.

"F-Friends! Poy poyo poy! Poyo! Not leave! Don't wanna! Don't wanna!" he blabbered before the effort became too great and he collapsed, sitting on the ground, looking down. "M... miss friends... miss Fumu, Bun, Meta..."

There was light. Somehow, for the first time in all of his visits, Meta Knight saw light. He saw his pupil relaxing, crying himself to sleep as the light expanded, covering all of the horizons. Despite his sadness, the child was tired of the emotional rush and as sleep came, he gave in to it and sighed, relaxing as sleep came to him. Despite the strength of the light, Meta Knight remained firmly in the darkness even as everything lit up all around him. It was a strange, ethereal effect, just as this realm was.

Then... the light was gone and something changed.

At first, he thought it was still Kirby standing in front of him. He could recognize the eyes, the tears, the whimpering as he sobbed in lonely sorrow, a sound like a very long, extended single beep audible through all of the realm. But as the tears rolled down the puffball's rosy cheeks, the knight couldn't help but notice that the puffball was blue. Kirby is pink.

Meta Knight woke up as he realized that the beeping noise meant that Kirby had flatlined. Yet as he turned to gaze at his lifeless pupil, the world appeared suddenly so... blurry for some reason.

It then dawned upon him that he was crying.

* * *

><p>"Hey hey hey, be careful with that stuff!"<p>

Marx's eyes narrowed as he stared at the Waddle Dees. The fact is that he needed them to transport the package but still, it didn't make it less frustrating. Frankly, he would rather have NZs than Waddle Dees at the moment. They're about identical to Waddle Dees except smart, independant, obedient, dedicated, and well everything that Waddle Dees could not hope to be. Unfortunately, they were also the worker class of the Dark Matters and as this was enemy territory, he could not afford to blow his cover or blow it more than he already had, not that it mattered.

He could see one of the Waddle Dees starting to slip and already, the Demon Beast clenched his teeth in annoyance. "Hey! Keep in mind that it's more valuable than the lives of your whole crew! If you damage it, it's outta the airlock with you!"

Intimidation is such a crude, imprecise way of doing things but while he knew that his charms and bribes would work on smarter creatures, Marx knew that those foolish things responded mostly only to bullying or gratitude.

This whole phase of the plan made him nervous. As long as his own power or that of fellow Dark Matter Collective members was the driving factor, everything would go perfectly without an itch. The Dark Matters are cold, logical, the perfect species. Servants such as Waddle Dees are flawed beings and a flaw, no matter how tiny, could always snowball into disaster.

Still, so far so good. The package was now being loaded into the storage device. With it now placed in position, the various Waddle Dees scuttled away from the airlock of the docked ship and headed back into the main area. Marx looked down at the servants and then sunk claws into a hidden pocket before producing a bag full of precious metals.

"Here's your payment. Now shoo!"

The Waddle Dees didn't have to be asked twice. They grabbed their payment before leaving the crazy winged jester and his weird box behind. Finding himself alone, Marx snorted and walked into the airlock, taking out a remote and activating the process of disconnecting his ship from the primary one.

Sneaking aboard the ship had been too easy. Just as he had predicted, sorrow had blinded the people and he had been able to blend into the masses of people with ease allowing him to snatch his prize while nobody was looking and now, at long last, the prize was his.

It had taken much preparation but finally, the final phase of his plans was now to begin. He approached the container and grabbed the top of the wooden box-like package. Already the more fitting glass cell was starting to power-up, the glass casing sliding open in preparation for its occupant.

Looking inside, Marx smirked as he brought a golden leathery limb to the box and caressed his prize with his clawed paw. Then, he grabbed it with both paws and lifted it, placing it carefully into the machine. As he stepped back, the glass casing begun to rise back in position and cold liquid begun to fill the capsule, the preservation process already starting. Although a bit burnt from the ordeal, the prize was more than intact enough for the Dark Matter Collective's purposes.

"You will make the most magnificient end, Kirby. Yes, you will..." whispered the demonic jester to himself as the auto-pilot system of his ship set the destination and took it far from the eyes of the fools from that star-shaped planet.

Hey, it's not like they were planning to do anything with it! They likely will never notice the exchange anyway.

Needless to say, they will be... surprised... at what use the collective has in mind for the former Star Warrior's empty shell...

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><p><strong>TO BE CONTINUED...<strong>


	3. It's Sunny Outside, Wake Up

**OFF:** Well, here is the first chapter proper. I hope that it was worth the wait. Please note that I initially made the silly mistake of calling Blade Sword and Sword, Blade. I tried to correct this but it is possible I may have made mistakes and that their names might be incorrectly placed in the chapter. While I usually frown on reviews that nitpick my grammar and what not (prefering reviews with plot comments and suggestions), feel free to point out spots where I didn't edit the character names.

Now for individual comments! (only two at this time though)

Lunara the ara: Glad to know you like it. I do intend to continue this, indeed. I hope you will also like this chapter.

starlight590: Well, you will see what I plan for Marx.

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><p><strong>HONOR THE PAST<strong>

CHAPTER 1:  
>It's Sunny Outside, Wake Up<p>

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><p>Weeks have passed since the funeral of the young Star Warrior who had once saved Dreamland from the evil plans of the dreaded Nightmare. Slowly, with difficulty but surely, life was returning to normal. It was funny in a way how much space the little puffball had taken despite its size. It was only now, now that it's gone, that people realized how large a space in their lives it took.<p>

The reason of Kirby's death had been a great shock, a devastating blow to the confidence of every inhabitant of the town. King Dedede had paraded shortly after Kirby's death, proclaiming with pride about how the Star Warrior had been no hero and how, with the help of Marx, he had just proven it once and for all. In retrospective, the king had been foolish to do so such a thing. But then, Meta Knight thought to himself, Dedede had never been one to show much judgement.

Far from allowing to recover what little respect he had before Kirby's arrival, his annoucement had attracted the wrath of the population. Each and every Cappy took it upon itself to explain how the young one had changed their lives, sometimes in bad ways but always in a way that ultimately resulted in the people remembering the pink Star Warrior fondly. It had been the opposite of what Dedede had expected, indeed. Rather than returning Dreamland to the status-quo, the murder of Dreamland's hero had turned the resentment of the people of Dreamland to their king.

No one feared Dedede anymore. Whenever he would show up in town, he'd be lucky not to have rocks thrown at him and he constantly had to be escorted by his Waddle Dee lackeys if he wanted his stuff to be left alone. Likewise, he could barely show his face at the town anymore and all of his groceries now had to be made by his minions. To say that Dedede's reputation was ruined is an understatement.

Yet, in spite of everything, time continue its march and many questions are without answers even now.

Marx was a Demon Beast and killed Kirby under orders but... who made Marx and for what purposes? None of the NME remnants had been capable of supporting the company's business after the death of Nightmare and likewise, what little remained of the NME's holdings had fallen into disrepair. It was widely known that few of the remnants had kept the capability of producing new Demon Beasts and without Nightmare's power, none could be created that were truly that impressive. Creating a Demon Beast as intelligent and insidious as Marx was beyond the capability of any of the remaining Demon Beast factions.

Then, there was the reason for this to begin with. Why kill Kirby? Nightmare is defeated, the NME has lost the war and cannot resume the fight until a millenium has passed. To assassinate the pink puffball was an act of spite, the action of a sore loser. Even with Kirby gone, the fall of the darkness cannot be reversed now. Yet, whoever had the ability to get the Demon Beast business back on track took the time and the effort to create an unique Demon Beast solely to kill Kirby and then to deploy it. It made no sense.

Yet, while those questions haunted many people, Meta Knight found himself more intrigued with the final vision that he had when the time of Kirby's death came.

Alone, the lights closed, only faint rays of light filtering through his room, the masked knight stood before his mirror. He had remembered a strange figure in the dream, a being not unlike Kirby. But while Kirby had always been beaming with happiness or feeling sadness because he would be separated from his friends, this other puffball had an expression of total loneliness, of a deep sorrow that Kirby would never express. The image had haunted Meta Knight, burning itself into his mind and refusing to leave.

Who had been this puffball?

Standing before his mirror, Meta Knight's arms trembled. He did not know why. He brought his gloved hands to his face, feeling the metal that permanently covered it, even in his sleep. He tried to remember when was the last time he had removed it and to his surprise, he could not remember it.

Slowly, his hands shaking, his limbs reached to his back. He touched the thick straps that kept his mask attached to his body, felt the tough fabric designed to resist the toughest of impacts. He touched the lock on the straps, a simple mechanism that he had felt for such a long time against his skin that he had forgotten it was there. He had just stopped noticing it, that was all.

His gloves moved and slowly, he loosened the straps, unlocking the mechanism. A strange feeling came to his face and for a moment, he stopped. The knight's yellow eyes blinked behind the opaque visor of his mask, wondering what feeling might have been. Looking to his reflection in the mirror, he realized that this was the mask loosening. It was such a strange, alien feeling...

He felt afraid. His eyes flashed red with a fear that grew by the second. He remembered what he was, what he ran away from. He is a Demon Beast, a creation of Nightmare. The face of a Demon Beast was below this mask, a face of pure evil. He suddenly wondered why would such a face curse this peaceful planet with its presence? Why should he remind himself of a nature he thoroughly rejected? He fought against Nightmare so long and so hard to reject this face and now, he was about to unmask it. Why would he do such a thing? It is a face better left hidden...

His hands shook out of control. He tried to lock the mechanism again but he had loosened the straps and would need to fasten them anew. Meta Knight could not help but curse himself for his moment of weakness, for his moment of foolishness. What was the meaning of this course of action? Why would he let the vision of a blue puffball make him do this? But then, what was behind the mask, to begin with?

The knight paused.

It had been so long since he had last removed this mask that he couldn't remember when he had last done so. In fact, although he could remember that he was a Demon Beast, he could no remember what that meant in terms of actual traits. Did he have long fangs or maybe glowing yellow eyes, not unlike what his visor indicated? Maybe he'd find extra pairs of eyes?

He wondered again why he was doing this. Such beings had killed all his friends, all those he held dear, even his pupil. He was alone because of such beings.

But then... maybe he should remember, remember what is this face that he hated so much, that he despise so much, the face that Nightmare gave him and filled him with such dread that he sealed it behind this mask. If he could not remember what it was... then how could he fear it? What was that terrorized him such?

He knew it was a bad idea. He knew he shouldn't do this. And hesitation gripped his limbs. But if he didn't do this now, he would never find out and the strange vision kept haunting him. He had seen this strange blue puffball crying when Kirby had died, saw him sobbing quietly to himself as the pink one had perished. Tears had flowed under his mask afterward, disturbing the knight deeply. Who had been this puffball? Was it another Star Warrior? Or maybe was it a vision from a planet far away?

He undid the straps and with a metallic noise, the mask fell to the floor.

Meta Knight stared at a blue puffball in the mirror. White, innocent eyes stared back, blinking a few times, a faint star-shaped reflection in the bottom of the eyes, not unlike Kirby's. He could see the pink blush on the cheeks, near the eyes, not unlike Kirby's. A small, sad frown greeted him, the face on the border of tears, scared out of its wits and looking like a child desesperately looking for comfort. In fact, just from the looks alone, Meta Knight could guess that the puffball was not much older than Kirby himself.

It was almost absurd watching the blue puffball in all that heavy knightly armor. It was almost too big for him and it just looked tacky. For a moment, Meta Knight stared into the mirror and he knew that it was the same puffball he had seen in his vision, the same one that had cried when the infant Star Warrior had died.

Meta Knight held a hand to the mirror and the blue puffball did the same in the mirror. A faint current of air filtered and Meta Knight felt strangely vulnerable. His gloves went to his face and he saw the puffball also touch its own face. His skin was soft, vulnerable with that same feeling that Kirby's had. For some reason, it felt almost absurd. To have such a vulnerable face...

Tentatively, Meta Knight pulled on one of his cheeks. It stung a tiny bit but it felt a bit strange, like it didn't sting as much as it should have, like the skin was just as extensible as Kirby's.

He wondered for a moment, who was this puffball who stared back at him? He knew that this was a mirror, he was perfectly aware of it. But... why would a puffball child not unlike Kirby be staring back? Shouldn't a Demon Beast be staring back?

But then, he realized that he did not know what kind of Demon Beast would look like. Meta Knight wondered if this was some kind of illusion or perhaps yet another vision. He brought a hand to one of his arms and slowly, pinched the skin underneath the glove. The knight flinched and then, looked back to the mirror only to see the same puffball staring back in confusion. The eyes did not glow or change color despite his emotions, remaining the same white as before.

"Who are you?"

The blue puffball's eyes shot open in pure shock and Meta Knight slammed his hands on his mouth. His entire body shook as he wondered if the high-pitched, child-like voice that he had just heard, a voice he had mistaken for Kirby's for a second, could have been truly been his own.

The blue puffball blinked a few times and then, slowly, stopped shaking.

"I am Meta Knight, a Star Warrior..." he said slowly, letting the tone of the voice sink in.

Well, it was slightly lower than Kirby's at least. However, the fact that it had barely been any lower and had to speak a second time to guess the difference had not pleased him. What kind of joke is that? He is a grown-up, an adult! Kirby is a child! He knows that for Kirby is much younger than he is! After all, Kirby was created less than thirty years ago while he was created...

Meta Knight's memory jammed.

He took part in the war against Nightmare, fought alongside Arthur, Jecra, and all the others. He wielded Galaxia against the great Demon Beast armies unleashed by the NME. This took place many years ago, a lot of time even! After all, it had been many years since he arrived on Pop Star, years he spent building the Halberd with the help of his knaves!

How much time had passed? Surely... a lot of years, right? Building a spaceship is a long process, that he knew. But for some reason, he knew that it couldn't have taken two hundred years for the Star Warriors to fall. And he knew it couldn't take two hundred years to build the Halberd. How old was he when he escaped from Nightmare's clutches?

In fact, what is Kirby's age? How... old was he?

The blue puffball looked at himself. He wasn't like Kirby. He couldn't be like Kirby. He knew this for certain. He was much older, for starters. He was also a Star Warrior, relying upon his mastery of the sword to protect others. He didn't do things like inhale things! He just didn't!

Hunger...

Meta Knight felt a bit of hunger and stared defiantly at the blue puffball. To his annoyance, the Kirby-like person returned his glare. What is that puffball expecting, really? That he start vacuuming things up like that silly pupil of his did?

Meta Knight spun to face one of his closets and shelves. He dug his hands inside and found the hidden panels, knowing from memory where he had placed them. With no hesitation whatsoever, he took out one of the massive jars in which he hid his collections of sweet, tasty candy. He could feel himself smiling widely as he stared at the candies inside. So many of those wonderful little bits of happiness, his one guilty pleasure...

He spun back, intent on just forgetting about this whole business... when he saw the blue puffball in the mirror, holding the jar of candy like some child, blinking innocently back at the knight.

"What are you staring at?" he called, only to hear the same annoyingly young-sounding voice.

He glared at the image, eyes narrowing cutely. What did the puffball think staring at him like this? He's not gluttonous like Kirby! He only happen to like candy and to hide at least a dozen of those jars all inside his room! That's perfectly normal, everyone does things like this! What do he expect that he do instead? That he walk into the fields and vacuum up watermelons like Kirby? Not that he can vacuum like Kirby can, anyway!

Meta Knight turned away from that annoying puffball, feeling frustration rising. Really, he wish that this vision would fade and his true reflection appear. He is a Demon Beast who rebelled against Nightmare, that he knows. He is a Star Warrior who fought in the great war, that he knows. He was Kirby's mentor, that he knows. But he's not like Kirby! He never was and will never be!

He turned to the blue puffball in the mirror, defiance all over the knight's face. "I cannot inhale. That I know! I'm not like Kirby! Am not, AM NOT!"

Indeed, he wasn't and he was going to prove it now. He can't inhale, never could.

He opened the jar and thrown away the cover. Then, Meta Knight opened his mouth wide and sucked in, inhaling powerfully. He knew that people cannot inhale candy like Kirby can. Even at full strength, their breath barely moves the candy.

The candy flew out of the jar from the strength of Meta Knight's inhaling. Before he knew it, his mouth was full. The sheer surprise of finding his mouth suddenly full made the knight swallow loudly, his entire frame flattening slightly against his armor in a motion not unlike Kirby's.

Tasting the candy in his mouth, Meta Knight's eyes remained widened as he slowly turned back to the mirror, his mind slowly processing what had just happened. He stared at the puffball who had just inhaled a jar of candy as if it was nothing and now felt full but thoroughly disturbed. White eyes blinked back at Meta Knight, confusion all over the young being's face.

And at long last, reluctantly, Meta knight brought a hand to the puffball in the mirror, touching the mirror's surface, staring into the white eyes...

"That's... me?" he said slowly, the shock shaking his voice.

There were no questions, no thoughts, no memories that came to Meta Knight's mind. All he could do was stare at his own face, one practically identical to Kirby's, his mind blank.

The puffball that he had seen in his vision... was him. It was a reflection of him.

Did it meant that...?

Meta Knight's hand shook uncontrollably as he gripped his left glove with his right hand. He knew he didn't want to know. He knew he wanted to forget, to put his mask back on, to just throw away all that had happened just now and act as if nothing had ever happened. This wasn't right, this just wasn't. He knew what he was, he always did. All of this was wrong. Even if his face and voice were like this... then this was coincidence. It wasn't as if Kirby's face was that unique, right? He'll remove this glove and he'll find the fingers that are inside his glove and know the vision was wrong. He'll do this now and know for certain.

Meta Knight gripped his glove with all of his strength and yanked it off in one brutal, lightning-quick motion.

He stared silently at his fingerless limb, turning it to look at it from every angle. It was the same as in the vision's... the same as Kirby's. There were absolutely no differences except for a very, very slight change in size. Even then, it was just a tiny bit larger. It was the same as the pink puffball's, the limb of a blue puffball, the same as in his vision, the same as in the mirror, and now the same as what he could see with his very own eyes.

He put the glove back on and turned to the mirror. His mask... his mask was just where he had left it.

He gripped the metal mask and lifted it, putting it back on his face. Meta Knight sat down and pulled the straps behind him, linking them together, reconnecting the parts of the mechanism. The click that came as he locked it was satisfying and he eagerly fastened them, welcoming the familiar feeling as the mask hugged his face.

Getting back on his feet, Meta Knight turned back to the mirror. To his satisfaction, the blue puffball was gone, his own reflection welcoming him, the eye color changed to reflect his mood as it should be. Yet... the mask felt strangely cold and hard.

Meta Knight brought his gloves to his face and touched his mask. He felt the hard, cold surface of the metal and his gloved limbs trailed to the center, touching the opaque, transparent visor. His face had felt so soft, so light previously and now, he realized that the mask was heavy and so hard. It was such a strange feeling...

"What was the meaning of this?" the voice tone that filtered through his mask was the one he actually recognized, the one he knew he had always been using, the one that fitted him.

This... meant nothing. He would not tell anyone. There was no need for anyone to know. In fact, he didn't need to know himself. Maybe he should just... forget...

* * *

><p>It was sunny outside.<p>

He had been so concerned that he had never noticed until he actually walked out. Cappy Town was as it always had been strangely enough. It was definitely recovering, people minding their own business, peace having returned. His gaze scanned the area as he continued his slow walk through town.

To say the truth, there was no reason really to be out there. Marx had disappeared ever since Kirby's death and had never returned. Whoeveer had that had wished harm upon Kirby, it seemed they had no quarrels with the planet having not attacked despite the opportunity that this could have represented. And well, it wasn't as if him being out there would serve much purpose.

Still, the knight felt like taking his mind off of what had happened back in his room. He needed the fresh air, as silly as that might sound. Maybe it would make him feel better, make him forget about that... puffball.

It then dawned upon the knight that he had not thought much of his two knaves, Sword and Blade. Ever since Kirby's death, he had barely paid any attention to the two and had not spoken to them. In fact, he had not seen them much. Still, he knew them well. They were probably goofing off somewhere rather than train. After all, Nightmare is gone and Marx had proven an isolated threat.

Soon enough, he noticed the two. The two had obviously noticed him too as they ran up to him, Blade grabbing into one of his shoulder pads. This was a mistake and he withdrew his hand but still, the both of them looked rather... lively.

"Sir, you should come with us!"

"Yes, definitely. You should!"

The masked knight stared at Blade and then shifted his gaze to the other warrior. They sure seemed excited. "Has something happened?"

The two seemed to calm down and even looked embarassed for a moment. "Actually... not really."

"So why should I come?"

The two didn't seem to mind much and quickly carried on. "Silica and Knuckle Joe are visiting. They sent us to tell us to come to the northern woods to greet them."

Hmmm... could it be? "And for what business? Any news of Marx and his potential masters?"

"No sir. But they have insisted you come anyway." answered Blade.

So in short, this didn't serve any purpose. The knight felt like thinking up an excuse to ditch them and continuing his walk but on another hand, he realized that he had nothing else to do. He was just wandering the town, literally aimlessly, trying to get his mind off of what had happened back in his room. Maybe that interacting with his allies will help him get his mind off of this.

"Fine. Show me the way."

And thus, off he was, following his knaves as they led him out of town and toward the northern woods. What the knight found beyond town did not surprise him, finding a large clearing beyond the initial cover of trees. Knuckle Joe, one of Kirby's former friends and a blonde-haired lad with very impressive skills in bare-handed combat, was currently training. The son of the Star Warrior Jecra was showing off his lineage in the way his explosive punches tore through the wooden logs that had been assembled to serve as target pratice.

Nearby was Silica, sitting on a split log, watching the other train. Both were skilled Demon Hunters, people of the universe who had taken it upon themselves to hunt down Demon Beasts even though they had not been chosen to be Star Warriors. With the Star Warrior ranks depleted, it would be from their ranks that a new generation would emerge.

As the masked knight walked into the clearing, both hunters turned their attention to him. Knuckle Joe stopped and waved while Silica smiled at them. Meta Knight returned Joe's wave and nodded to the female hunter, who likewise nodded back.

"You have requested my presence?" he called to Silica.

She got up and nodded to the knight. "Yes. How are you?"

"I feel fine. Is there a particular reason why I am here?"

This seemed to amuse both hunters. Knuckle Joe walked closer and looked the knight over. For some reason, this unnerved the masked one. He found himself further upset that Silica seemed amused but his eye color remained the same.

"Yeah, you look kind of blue. We thought we'd fix that."

This... was a very strange reason for him to call him here. His expression must have shown it for Silica spoke up as if to answer his unspoken question.

"Look, Meta Knight. You may try to hide it but we know that Kirby's death has hit you hard. It has taken all of us by surprise." her amusement was gone, her tone serious. "You barely speak to anyone anymore. You don't even come out of your room. You just stay holed up in the fat bird's castle day after day. You can't keep going like this. You have to cheer up, if only to keep your mind sharp so you can avenge Kirby when we catch Marx."

"Catch him?" asked the knight, suddenly finding himself curious.

"Ever since the funeral day, I and Silica have been tracking him down." explained Knuckle Joe. "Been pretty eager to give him some payback for our pal, you see. Still, pretty ellusive fellow. We barely got any leads on him and every time it seems we got him, he's gone."

The frustration in the blonde kid's voice was obvious. First his father, now Kirby. Evil had claimed both figures that he had cared for. In a way, Meta Knight could understand how he felt... but still...

"I see. Still, I do not see any reason to call me here."

"Well, if it makes you feel better, we can train together." Silica smiled at Meta Knight. "There's not a lot of people who are really skillful with the sword in Dreamland and I thought that it would be interesting if you could train with someone more skilled than your knaves for once. You know... keep yourself sharp in case whoever sent Marx do show up."

He could see the logic although he still knew that it was actually just an excuse. His skill with the sword was far superior to Silica. Training was really not that necessary to say the truth. Still, judging from the way his knaves, Knuckle Joe, and the huntress all stared at him, he guessed he didn't have much of a choice.

With a sigh, he unsheated his regular sword. "Fine. If that is your will."

It was Silica's turn to unsheat her own blade.

It dawned upon Meta Knight that it had been weeks since he had trained as he stared at his opponent for this training spar. Ever since Kirby's demise, he had not taken the time to train his knaves or to train by himself. It was a big slip in discipline and for a moment, he wondered why his pupil's death had made him act like this.

His thoughts were however interrupted as the huntress dashed forward. The knight cursed himself for his lack of attention but still, he had ample time to bring his sword up to guard against the predictable strike that came. It also helped that he was much shorter than his opponent, meaning she had to almost duck to strike at him in any other way than vertically.

Still, that sword slice had only been an opening blow and the huntress chained the attack with two spins, trying to knock Meta Knight's sword back so she could strike the middle of his mask with the flat of her blade. Meta Knight found himself pushing back and then sidestepped the final strike before swinging only for his blade to meet Silica's.

The huntress rose an eyebrow, staring down at the masked knight. He did not know why and for a moment, he wondered why she reacted like this.

She carried on with a powerful horizontal slice, slamming into his blade and knocking him backward slightly. Meta Knight gripped his sword and spun to counter-attack, the strength of his own strike making Silica step backward as she parried. Still, her expression unnerved him.

He didn't know why this angered him but it did. Still, he kept it under control and decided to carry on with his offense, taking advantage of Silica's slip to strike at her leg with the flat of his blade. The strike connected and she bent down in pain for a second before thrusting her sword down and then bringing it up in a slice, knocking Meta Knight's blade away once again as she got up.

"You're sloppy, Meta Knight. You're not concentrating. I can tell." she said.

Meta Knight felt further frustrated. Usually, he could beat Silica easily. He just had not to let himself get distracted like this. He swung his blade again, stepping back. He would put his mind into it and do much better.

Knuckle Joe watched with interest as the spar carried on. He had heard of that time when Silica had shown up, demanding that Meta Knight hand out his blade to her. Back then, the masked knight had shown that he was more than worthy of his sword and taught her a lesson. But now, as he looked at the two, he couldn't help but notice the obvious difference. The knight was not completely there. His mask hid his expression and his eye color remained the same but it was obvious through other signs, through the way he moved, the way he paused, the way he hesitated. Meta Knight did not hesitate like this back then...

What was it that was on the knight's mind? What could possibly distract him to such a point?

"You're not even trying!I know of a puffball who could fight much better than this with even just half of the training you got!"

That... was a low blow. The blonde haired kid's eyes narrowed in disapproval as Silica thrown a two-edged insult at the masked Star Warrior. He couldn't help but feel insulted himself. He knew she hadn't used his name... but the intent of the insult was clear and he also knew that it was hypocrisy. She did care for him and insulting his memory in such a way, during a spar nothing less, was infuriating. Needless to say, he would have a word with her when this is done with.

Still, she hadn't been malicious, simply thoughtless and reckless. She had simply wanted to force the knight to focus on her instead of on whatever thought was haunting his mind. She thought that by directing his thoughts toward her through anger, she could get him to actually get on the offensive instead of doing those clumsy, half-hearted swipes with his blade.

Well, he did charge... but not in the way she had expected.

Meta Knight's eyes flashed a bright shade of red as he lashed out, swiping with his blade with all of his strength. The attack was sudden but also incredibly reckless, making it incredibly easy to dodge. More importantly, it was a beginner's mistake, the kind of obvious attack that one did without thought and without grace. The knight's reaction had been extreme without even pronouncing a word, the sheer sloppiness of that last attack more than telling enough.

Things happened extremely quickly.

She sidestepped the attack, really it couldn't have been easier. She had planned to slap him on the side with the flat of her blade, get him to trip and get back on track. Only it had been her turn to make a mistake and she twisted her sword too much, the cutting edge brushing against the back of the knight as he passed by her...

The clacking sound that came next was fortunately not one of flesh being sliced open. But at this moment, to the knight, it seemed as if the universe had frozen, time standing still.

In her counter-attack, Silica had struck too deep, her blade going through the knight's cape and reaching the straps that held the mask in place. In a single motion, the mask that Meta Knight constantly insisted on keeping on his face found itself coming free.

He felt the metallic surface slide off his face in slow motion, a fresh breeze telling him with more certainity than anything that his single worst fear had come true.

The knight's reaction was as sudden as it was unexpected.

A high-pitched scream echoed through the clearing as Meta Knight fell on his knees and clutched his face, desesperately trying to hide his face from the gazes of those he had called his allies.

Silence reigned through the clearing. They just stared as the one they had thought for the longest time to be the most mature entity they knew and who they had theorized to be the oldest person they had known had just collapsed on his knees and not only screamed as a reaction to getting his face uncovered but had unleashed said scream in a voice that was definitely not the one they were used to. In fact, it was a voice that had been so familiar, so similar to the one of the friend they once had...

"Meta Knight?" Knuckle Joe broke the silence, his voice quiet.

"Meta Knight!" the voice that came next was definitely not so quiet, Fumu and Bun running into the clearing.

Of course, they were quickly noticed. "Fumu? Bun? What are you two doing here?"

Silica was practically ignored. The two children approached the knight, noticing the way he clutched his face. For a moment, Fumu had thought that they had been attacked but as her eyes scanned the area, she didn't see a trace of any enemy. She looked to look at the female hunter and her ally...

"We aren't allowed to visit, now? When we heard you two were visiting, we begun to make our way here but then we heard some kind of scream. Did you three get attacked?" said Fumu.

"Was it Marx?" added her brother.

Silica shook her head while Knuckle Joe looked to the knight, looking very embarassed. "No, we were just sparring..."

"That scream was Meta Knight's... somehow. Silica cut his mask by accident. He's been kneeling there, clutching his face since for some reason." said the blonde haired hunter. "It's starting to creep me out, actually."

Now everyone was definitely staring. Meta Knight's two knaves had no idea why their lord was suddenly making a scene or why his voice had sounded as such but what they did know was that this whole scene was rather lacking in dignity and in the interest of their sir, should end. The two approached their lord, Blade turning to look at the others while Sword got closer and, approaching his sir, grabbed the mask that was still at Meta Knight's feet.

"Sir, I will not attempt to rationalize why you are reacting like this. After all, the armor of a Star Warrior is an extremerely important point and a matter of pride, that I know." He lifted the mask and looked at the straps, noticing the cut. He then shown the mask's back to his sir. "See, the straps are not even that badly damaged. We can repair this easily if you wi-..."

Blade froze mid-sentence. For a moment, Sword thought that it was because his brother had spoke unwisely and their master was going to tell him how he was going to punish them. However, a few awkward seconds later, it became obvious that the blue and black armored brother was just frozen, staring at Meta Knight's face. What was the meaning of this? Why was Meta Knight's face such a big deal that the masked knight would react in such a way and that his knave would freeze like this upon seeing it?

This was starting to become quite the perplexing case. Everyone approached the knight to get a closer look at his face...

Seeing mostly Blade's back, Fumu poked his shoulder. After glancing back, he hurriedly stepped to the side, allowing everyone a good look at the knight's face...

"What... in... the name... of the stars..." whispered Knuckle Joe, summing up the whole group's reaction.

Fumu had often wondered what lied under the mask of Kirby's mentor. He slept with it on, barely moved it and loosened it to eat or clean himself, Not even his knaves had known what was under the mask despite having known the knight for a much longer time than anyone else. Due to the almost comical way Meta Knight insisted on hiding his face, many theories had emerged about his face. But none of them had ever thought that this would be what they would see.

The white oval eyes with reflections of stars within, the little pink blushes on his cheeks, the sad, nervous frown on his face... it was the same face as Kirby's except with different colors. The way the knight's mouth curved had that same sad, ashamed expression as Kirby would have back when he would do naughty stuff and know he had been bad. It was such a cute, adorable, young-looking face... and one that none had ever associated with the mysterious, wise knight that had lived among them for so much time.

"Please don't look at me!" the voice that came from Meta Knight was also different. It was almost identical to how Kirby's had been, the same air of innocense and youth, with the same strong emotion in each word. Of course, Meta Knight had pronounced all of the words in his sentence without adding a single 'poyo' in it but besides that, the voice was barely a bit lower-pitched.

Despite the knight's attempt to hide himself, his true face couldn't be more obvious and the young girl's eyes trailed to the mask. She grabbed into it and brought it to her face. She needed to test it out, to know if that suspicion she just had was merely a crazy thought or an intuition.

As she turned to look at the others, her eyes appeared yellow through the visor as she held it close to her face with one hand. "I am Fumu, one of Meta Knight's friends."

And her suspicions were confirmed as everyone saw her eyes of a different color through the visor and heard her voice distorted to sound much deeper and older-sounding, making her sound so much like an adult that one would be unable to tell it wasn't her real voice. Fumu had only heard her voice but seeing all of the others startled as they had looked at her, she knew that what she had guessed was true.

She removed the mask, still carrying it in one hand as she turned back to the knight, still clutching his face as he tried to hide it. By now, she was noticing that he was shaking...

"Why?"

It was a simple question, made of only one word but it was the one that mattered. Why hide this all along? Now that each of Meta Knight's allies thought about it, this made sense. Knuckle Joe had always thought that it was a little weird that the knight would always know everything about Kirby's powers. Likewise, each of the others had similar thoughts. Still... why would Meta Knight hide such a thing from absolutely everyone? Fumu and Bun remembered the strange loneliness that their late friend had felt, never having anyone of his species to be with him ever and everyone believing that with the news of the Star Warriors' destruction, he would be doomed to be the last of his kind all his life. If Meta Knight had revealed that he was like Kirby, it would have prevented this. Then there was the fact that hiding his face so much made no sense. Why insist on this? It wasn't as if everyone would care so much about it. Well, maybe Dedede would have thrown a fuss at having a second puffball around but then, it's not like it wouldn't have worked out...

Silica had sheated her sword by now and rose an eyebrow, crossing her arms as she looked to the others. Fumu's question had come a while ago and they all had the time to start to realize the problem with the situation yet Meta Knight had still not spoken or moved. It was as if he was petrified, refusing to move. It was an overreaction and a big one, one that confused everyone.

"Sir, are you... ashamed?" attempted Blade.

No words actually came from the formerly masked knight but the way his frown grew larger and even sadder than before was more than a good enough answer for everyone.

"This is ridiculous." Silica was fed up with this scene. "The Meta Knight I know is more mature than this."

"You... you don't hate me?" Things just kept on getting weirder and weirder.

"Wait, what? Hate you? Why? For looking like Kirby? Why?" went Fumu.

Her brother smiled. "Yeah! Actually, I think that's pretty cool! He's just like Kirby! Except blue!"

"He even got the same blushes. Maybe all Star Warriors looked like Kirby?" said Knuckle Joe.

This seemed to amuse everyone. Well, everyone but Meta Knight. "No! Never!"

Again with the cryptic, extreme reactions. The worry was starting to fade being replaced with confusion. Like before, the knight frustratingly did not explain. He just remained like this, clutching his face, as if everyone was to instantly know why his face being like Kirby's was so terrible and shameful. Needless to say, cryptic half-answers, especially panicky ones, would not do this time.

"Okay, so what's the matter? Don't tell me you think that just because you look cute like Kirby did, it somehow means you're not a knight? That's a childish reaction! That is not how grown-ups react about this type of thing. I mean, why the big reaction? You think you're a kid?"

The reaction was instantaneous. Meta Knight jumped to his feet, eyes widened. "YES! NOW GIVE ME BACK MY MASK!"

Looking like Kirby was one thing. Jumping on his feet like that, arms raised, mouth opening wide as he yelled in a manner identical to how the pink Star Warrior would have if he had been in the same situation was another. Realizing what he had just said and done, the knight spun around and wrapped his cape around his face.

The reaction left everyone completely silent and at this moment, the knight felt like he would burst into tears. Within a single training session, his secret had somehow been exposed and now, because of how he had lost his cool, he had now said something he knew he would never be able to take back. But still, he tried.

The knight cleared his throat and then spoke. "I... I mean, of course that... wasn't. I am just... stressed. Yes... just... stressed... I am a grown-up, definitely a grown-up."

Meta Knight was trying to disguise his voice so it sounded older. He was failing, very badly at that. This was a bit more like how they remembered the knight, with the more elaborate, toughtful speech. However, without the voice tone given by the mask, the entire sentence sounded forced, fake, like a kid pretending to be something it wasn't rather than being mysterious. It was just a change of tone technically but in a way, it made all the difference.

And at this moment, a question came to everyone's minds. How old was Meta Knight to begin with? It was a bit of a silly thought, especially given their friend's distress. And in a way, it was the silliest of thoughts. Meta Knight had fought alongside Knuckle Joe's father during the Star Warriors' last stand. He had been fighting Nightmare for many years before coming to Pop Star. And then there was his time spent on Pop Star too.

However... they all remembered a single point about Kirby that, if Meta Knight was truly of the same kind as it seemed, suddenly put everything in doubt. Kirby, for all of his age spent in space, had still been a baby. In fact, he would still be a child for hundred of years, not becoming an adult until many, many generations had passed. And this brought them to the question that all haunted them. How old was Meta Knight? It was almost absurd to think that he wouldn't be what he claimed. But then, doubt came to them.

Knuckle Joe remembered what his deceased father had said of the knight and Silica also remembered the rumors. Blade and Sword could not help but wonder too. Meta Knight had been found and raised by Arthur to be a Star Warrior, that was known. But how long ago had this been? A long time ago... but not that long. Jecra had still been alive when Meta Knight was but a young new recruit. And Knuckle Joe knew for certain that centuries had not passed after that time. Neither he or his father could live that long after all.

And all of this pointed to a single, shocking fact. They had never questioned the matter, never thought of the issue. Meta Knight absolutely had to be a grown-up. The mysterious, wise knight who always paid attention to everything and acted as their friend's mentor... he couldn't be anything but an adult, right? The thought that he would still be a child himself was ridiculous, unthinkable. Yet, they all realized that the truth had stared them in the face for countless months.

And suddenly, a lot of how Meta Knight always acted mysterious made a whole lot of sense.

"You know about how Meta Knight always stand in high places whenever he talk to someone? You know... shelves, closets, cliffs, tables, even beds?" Bun broke the silence.

At this moment, both demon hunters turned to the children. "You mean he do that with you too?"

Fumu nodded at Silica. "Yes. Whenever we'd spoke, he always stand on top of some piece of furniture. I always wondered why but never really asked."

"That reminds me of how you'd stand on the bed in your room to make yourself taller when you played being adult!" added her brother only for her to raise an eyebrow.

"Didn't you do that?"

Meta Knight spun to face them again. Although he was hiding most of his face with his cape, his eyes were still visible and it was obvious that he was unhappy about that latest turn of events.

"I'm not trying to make myself look taller!"

His eyes drilled through each of those... people... that he once called his friends and allies. Why are they doing this to him? Why would they say such dreadful things? Don't they realize what they are implying? He is Meta Knight, a great Star Warrior, raised by Arthur himself, the last of his kind and a defender of the universe! That whole conversation is distasteful and shameful!

"I fought at your father's side! Sir Arthur trained me! Yet here you all stand, theorizing that I might be a child? What is the meaning of this?"

This was a good point but it was one that they had thought over during that awkward silence earlier. The fact that no one looked chastened from his intervention filled the knight with a nameless fear. His blood ran cold through his body and he found himself thankful that his cape offered him some protection from their gazes. To be so exposed... to have the gazes of those he had trusted upon his face... he did not care for honor or dignity anymore. All he wanted was grab his mask and run, run as far as he could. He did not care where, he... just needed to get away. To be where none could see him...

"How long ago was that?"

Meta Knight stared at them. There sure was a lot of periods of awkward silence in this conversation.

"How long ago was that?" Fumu echoed Silica's question.

The knight didn't answer. He didn't want to answer. It dawned upon him that it was a simple, natural question. How long ago was his time with the Star Warriors? It wasn't a very hard question and frankly, he realized that it was very strange that he couldn't answer it. He had always avoided the question before. He had just played mysterious and everyone had made up their own answers. But now, he knew that if he gave a cryptic answer it would just make him look silly and childish. Was it the mask? He wants his mask. He feel naked without it. Why won't they give him back his mask? Are they hating him?

"Sir, it's not a hard question. Why won't you answer it?" He found himself hating his knaves. Why did he bring them along, again? Don't they owe him to not ask such questions?

Yeah, it wasn't that hard of a question. After all, he is a grown-up. He can easily answer that!

... or can he?

Suddenly, he was back in front of that mirror, staring at that insolent, sad little blue puffball. How long ago, indeed? After he had escaped from Nightmare's clutches, his ship had crashlanded in a Star Warrior-controlled zone and Arthur had found him and raised him. After all, he had been only a baby when he ran away from the NME base and had been unable to figure out how to control his ship. Then, he had been raised into a fine knight and fought alongside the Star Warriors...

... how long ago? How long ago was this?

Kirby was a hundred years old when he crashlanded on Pop Star. He was still a child, a baby even. Much younger than the knight as the ship's stasis system had kept the young Star Warrior from aging too quickly. But what about himself? His life in the NME Enterprise, his time in the Star Warrior ranks, then his time on Pop Star... he made the calculations in his mind.

He knew the answer, he knew how many years that gave total. But for some reason, he didn't want to even think it. For some reason, it just jammed in his mind. The years they... they...

"How long ago was that?"

His body shuddered, his armor failed him, his cape couldn't hide it. He wanted to run, for the question to be hidden. Why would anyone want to know that? He had raised Kirby, he was mysterious, he knew a lot of things, he helped with things... wasn't that sufficient? Why would they want to know what he looked like or how old he was? He was a Demon Beast. No one would ever accept him. Even now, they probably hated him for being one.

"Sword, Blade? How old is he?" This time, Fumu directed her question at the knight's knaves. But they shrugged as an answer.

"He never told us..." said the green armored knave.

"He always avoided the question. We never thought much of it. We assumed that if our sir wouldn't answer then it wasn't our business." added the other brother.

"That couldn't have been more than three hundred years ago." Fumu's voice cut through like a knife through butter. "That can only mean..."

"He's the same age as Kirby was..." finished her brother.

Something broke. Something really broke.

More than fifty years of denial and suppression suddenly gave away, years of emotions pouring like through a broken dam. Meta Knight collapsed on the ground and let go of his cape, gloved paws going to his face as he sobbed. The blue puffball looked so ridiculous, so pathetic in that armor that was too big for him, that he had hidden himself in out of fear and shame. The truth was that he was barely older than Kirby had been, his body slightly more aged only because he had spent his own century awake, among the Star Warriors.

Demon Beasts had taken everything from him and he couldn't even look in a mirror without realizing what he was. He had come to be afraid of this blue puffball, to hate the young Demon Beast who had failed to make any difference, the kid who had been just sitting there while everyone died around him. Just a kid waving a sword and thinking he's better because of it. He had thrown it away, hid it all away. Thrown away his nature, thrown away his real age, thrown away his connections with his pupil.

And at that moment, he also realized just how much he missed the pink puffball and how sad he truly was. Kirby had been more than a pupil for him, he was the only thing remotely close to a family he had left. As a fellow Star Warrior, Kirby had the innocense he had never been allowed to have, lived with his face free and unmasked, his face untouched by fear or shame. He had watched as the infant had made friends, played with people, lived life... and he had slept, dreaming, knowing deep down that it was a life he had been forever denied and accepting it.

But now, it was back to status quo. Kirby is dead, killed by that stupid Demon Beast, like everyone he had ever cared for. And now, like before, he stood ashamed, humiliated, exposed, naked. Like when his nature had been revealed to the Star Warriors and Arthur had forced him to take on that stupid, hateful mask.

"You... you all hate me... don't you? I lied to you, betrayed your trust... I'm such a hack."

"Meta Knight. You've always been there to help Kirby when he needed, to help all of us. You're our friend too, like Kirby was. Why would we hate you?"

"Because I'm one of them?"

That was not the answer Fumu or anyone had expected. "One of them?" she repeated.

It was no use hiding it anymore. His honor was gone, his secrets exposed. Resigning himself to his fate, the blue puffball said the two words that would make him hated forever.

"Demon Beasts..."

He waited for the stares, for the hatred in their eyes, for the unsheating of weapons and the snarling to begin. For them to call to hide his face, to never show his face again. For their eyes to narrow and for them to shake their fists in anger. His white eyes scanned each of the face, saw the surprise, guessed it was only a matter of time before they screamed at him...

"Wait what? Demon Beasts?"

The two demon hunters paused and checked through their memories. Many rumors surrounded the masked knight, wielder of the sacred blade Galaxia. Galaxia was a blade of pure power, one that the beings of darkness could never touch. Any Demon Beast who tried to touch it would be burnt. Yet, it was also said that the Galaxia had been stolen from Nightmare, that the blade was initially in the NME Enterprise's hands, somehow. And that Meta Knight had something to do with it.

Yet, it was now revealed that by his own species's standarts, Meta Knight was still a child. He had been found, raised, and trained by Arthur. Yet he had taken back Galaxia somehow and it wasn't during any time during Jecra's own time in the Star Warriors or Blade's and Sword's. There was only one logical conclusion as to how Meta Knight had come to retrieve Galaxia... but it didn't make sense.

If Meta Knight was a Demon Beast, then he would have indeed had access to Galaxia and been able to run away with it. However, Demon Beasts were also beings of darkness and could not touch Galaxia without burning themselves. It was because they didn't have hearts, because they were pure evil. But if a Demon Beast had a heart then wouldn't it be able to wield Galaxia, like anyone else from the light?

But then, this begged the question. Why would a Demon Beast go to the Star Warriors? But then, why would anyone in its right mind serve Nightmare? Nightmare was horrible to all things, including his own minions. If a Demon Beast had a heart, wouldn't defecting to the Star Warriors be the obvious route?

Then there was why Meta Knight wore his mask, why he was terrified and obviously ashamed without it to the point that his facade of wisdom and maturity completely fell apart. Being exposed as a Demon Beast would surely be devatasting to that level. Who would ever accept a Demon Beast? They were pure evil, spawns of Nightmare that had no heart. No one would possibly wish to accept them.

It all fitted together so neatly, all in such a logical way.

The only element that truly made a problem was Kirby. What of him? So innocent, so cute, so friendly... the young Star Warrior had been one of the best people had known. Could this mean that... no, that didn't make sense. Meta Knight probably realized that. Still, how had he recognized so quickly that Kirby was a Star Warrior, beyond the ship? Especially considering Kirby was... well, the same age but acting like it?

To be fair, she didn't know and guessed she wouldn't know. It was already hard to wrap her head around all of this. And she wasn't sure she could ever really see Meta Knight in this way. A Demon Beast with a heart who was the same species as Kirby and was the same age but masquerading as an adult? It was really outlandish.

"So that's how you managed to steal Galaxia right from under Nightmare's nose..."

Meta Knight had expected many things but not that. He let go of his face and looked in confusion.

"Wait? So you actually believe that? It's crazy!" protested Fumu.

But Knuckle Joe and Silica had come to their conclusions and stopped her before she could start to rant at them. The blonde haired kid was the first to speak up. "What could be so shameful that he never, ever removed his mask and broke down like this when exposed? Being a Demon Beast sure would cause that."

Silica finished it up. "Likewise, he wouldn't be able to wield Galaxia if he didn't have a heart. We all know Demon Beasts can't touch Galaxia because they have no heart. And well, who in their right mind would ever serve Nightmare? Given you got a heart and isn't completely crazy like Yamikage, you'd quit at the first opportunity you got."

This... was the last thing he had expected. Really, this was shocking the blue puffball to the point that he froze, staring at the others. "You mean... you don't hate me?"

"Well, that sure is a lot to wrap our heads around... but Meta Knight has always helped us and has stood against Nightmare much longer than we did. I think that it doesn't matter what he is at this point." summed up Silica.

"I can't believe that our lord could be the same age as his pupil was..." said Blade.

It seemed that at long last, the situation was easing up. And seeing everyone like this, the blue Star Warrior felt himself suddenly relieved. He had been afraid, so afraid... and as relief finally allowed him to relax, he suddenly found himself realizing, truly realizing how he had acted during the whole conversation. Everyone kind of stopped and stared as Meta Knight's eyes widened into big circles, his mouth opening just like Kirby's would when in total shock. And then they kept staring as he blushed in embarassment in the same way too.

"... yeah. That will definitely take some time getting used to." said Sword, sweatdropping at the sight.

"Errr... well..." Meta Knight hesitated. He felt so silly suddenly but well, he felt like he had to say it. "I would really, really appreciate it if this entire conversation and the truth about me would remain between us. I would rather not have all of those embarassing facts revealed to the population..." and with a very, very quiet whisper, he also added: "... and can I have my mask back now?"

"Your secret is safe with us." said Fumu, smiling to the blue puffball. Obviously, no one had heard his last whispered request. Oh well...

The girl then approached the demon huntress and handed the mask to her. "You think you can repair the straps?"

Silica took it and smiled back. "Don't think it should be a problem."

She turned to Knuckle Joe and the others. "Well, since it's like this... why not come to my ship? I'd like to hear some news about what happened in Dreamland while we were gone and well, it might be best to repair Meta Knight's mask before we go to town."

Well, it seemed as if things were getting back to a certain level of normality. The two demon hunters and the two kids moved forward while the two knaves hanged back to stand at the sides of their lord. Still, Sword and Blade were wondering how they would ever be able to see their sir the same way again. Now, every time they'd look at him, they'd picture Kirby in blue. The fact that he was the same age essentially and had mostly the same voice tone when he didn't have his mask certainly wouldn't help matters.

"When we get back to the castle, you two are in for the mother of all training sessions."

The two knaves flinched. Well, that did help them with seeing their lord the same way as always despite the revelations alright. The two brothers sure found themselves hoping their lord would have used a different way though.

* * *

><p>Things had finally calmed down. His knaves, Fumu and her brother, and the two demon hunters were now in a different room of the ship, discussing and obviously having fun considering the occasional laugh. In his gloved paws lied his mask, the straps now repaired. He couldn't help but notice how they had taken the time to clean it and shine it a bit before giving it back to him. It was a fairly mundane gesture but for some reason, especially after what happened, it touched the knight.<p>

He looked at the mirror in the room where he stood and saw the young puffball, a big, wide goofy smile on his face as he held a mask in his paws. This unnerved the knight slightly. What was that blue puffball thinking? That his allies are suddenly his friends just because they were not hating him for being a creation of Nightmare?

"This changes nothing. You're still just some monstrous Demon Beast." he growled at the blue puffball who then lowered his eyes in shame.

What do that dumb kid expect? He wants to go out there, to have fun with all of those kids? That's not the way of the Star Warrior! That is not the moment for this! He must prepare to leave, to train. That dumb, lazy Demon Beast. Always have to burn virtue into him, can't understand basic instructions. No wonder he failed everyone he had cared for.

Meta Knight put the mask on his face and wrapped the straps around his frame before locking them in place. With the mask back on his face, he looked at the mirror and noted with satisfaction that he looked the same as usual. He adjusted his cape a little bit and he looked just as mysterious and regal as always. That was good. That puffball and its childish, plaintive innocense was a sore to his eyes.

Now to prepare for the training session when he'll be back at the castle...

* * *

><p>"Hey hey hey! What's the matter? You look kind of blue! Would a little joke cheer you up?"<p>

King Dedede had been so busy pouting and lamenting his own fate that he had not noticed the characteristic noise of his jester bouncing on his ball. Likewise, his advisor had been too busy thinking of ways to cheer up the king to notice either. As such, it was a genuine surprise when the two looked forward to see Marx on his ball, bouncing in front of them with that silly, happy grin of his.

"Marx? Where have you been? You've been gone for weeks!" Dedede's anger did not seem to faze the jester Demon Beast very much though. He simply kept bouncing, keeping his usual grin.

"I was simply taking care of some business, my majesty. There was that tiny bitty matter of cleaning up loose ends after exterminating that little pink insect of yours." he explained in that cheery voice of his. The fact that Marx spoke so casually and happily of killing someone as if it was normal chilled Escargoon somewhat. There wasn't even any real glee like in the Demon Beasts Nightmare used to send them. It was just... a casual explanation.

At that moment, the jester tilted his head a bit, staring at the penguin king. "Which reminds me... why are you so down in the dumps? I entertained you and then squashed that Kirby, just as you asked. Shouldn't you be happy now?"

Escargoon decided to explain the situation, knowing that Dedede wouldn't want to talk about it. "The population blame the king. We prove to them that their so-called hero was a hack and they responded by throwing rocks at our majesty. The nerve!"

The king slumped into his chair, remembering the way it had hurt for days, having been pelted with rocks, rotten tomatoes, and basically anything the Cappies could find during his parade. When he had tried to proclaim that he had been right all along, the inhabitants had begun to recite the ways Kirby had changed their lives and then booed him. It had been thoroughly horrible, even worse than those times Kirby had humiliated him. It had been almost too much...

"I prove them wrong. I prove them wrong... and still, they didn't respect me. They didn't appreciate me!" The king's voice rose from a whisper into a terrible, angered snarl. His own citizens, throwing rocks at him! The nerve!

"Maybe you're using the wrong method?"

Both Dedede and Escargoon stared at Marx. He kept bouncing innocently on his ball but he was actually very aware that he had just caught their attention. He proceeded to explain...

"You wish to be respected. But even after proving you are better than their champion, they still hate you. I think it's obvious at this point that they will never love you."

"Way to state the obvious." interrupted flatly the advisor. The jester ignored him and carried on.

"But there is another way for them to respect you than to make them love you."

Dedede's eyes lit up and he straightened himself. Another way for them to respect him? He was all ears to that! The king's reaction was more than enough to make the jester know that he had the king's undivided attention now.

"Another way? Speak up! What is it?"

"Make them fear you."

The king and the advisor both stared. Internally, a sly, sadistic smirk came to Marx although his exterior expression remained as joyful and unaware as ever.

"They will never love you. They hate you too much for that. But you do not need to be loved to be respected. Make them understand that you are the king, that whatever you say goes. If they serve you, then no harm will come to them and they will be protected. But if they disappoint you, if they don't respect your rule... then they shall be... punished!"

Escargoon was rather unsure of that idea. The king was already quite the bully and although he had true respect for Dedede, he was doubting about that method. But the penguin was considering it seriously. Even after proving that he was better, his citizens had openly voiced their inconditional hatred of him. It was now becoming clear that Marx was right and that the only way to gain respect would be through other means... and well, bullying was something he was good at.

"I like that idea!"

Dedede got up from his throne and grabbed the remote. He turned to the great screen linked to the transporter machine and activated it. At this moment, the screen's static cleared and he was greeted by that same strange black, spiky-haired figure with the red eyes and the visor.

"Ha... salutations great, noble king. We... were excpecting you." called the dark figure.

"I want a new Demon Beast! Something big, something fierce! So I can make people fear me!"

"Yes, yes of course. We are aware of your needs. And we have what you need."

The king smiled. He was really starting to like that weird spiky guy. "So what's your best Demon Beast?"

"Actually, our customer service has analyzed your situation and according to what we have learnt about you and your situation... then we may have the perfect Demon Beast for you."

At this moment, the screen shown the image of what appeared to be a strange, morbidly obese bipedal blue dragon with no arms. It looked very ridiculous and more cute than threatening, actually, with its big round eyes and overall ball-like shape.

"This is the Ice Dragon, a brand new high-quality product from the Dark Matter Collective. This Demon Beast is an immense, building-sized monster with scales tough enough to resist direct hits from the strongest, most advanced weapons. Its nitrogen breath is capable of freezing into a block of solid ice even the most resilient of targets and the temperatures are so low that the victims will remain frozen for weeks, maybe even months... should they survive. As an added bonus, the Ice Dragon is capable of small scale ice cube spitting and can act as an ice cube machine if you lack one or if your current one breaks down."

Dedede scratched his chin while Escargoon rose an eyebrow. Then the king spoke up. "Impressive-sounding but how will it help me make everyone fear me?"

The image switched back to the strange visor-wearing figure. "The Ice Dragon works magnificiently in a terror mission. Its strength is such that few beings can defeat it and its cold breath leave all of its victims standing as ice statues, making examples out of anyone foolish enough to fight it. To be frozen by this Demon Beast will be a punishment terrifying enough for any sane person to fold before your power..."

"I'm not sure. That sounds kind of extreme-" Escargoon's hesitation was however covered by a single word from the king.

"BOUGHT!"

The dark figure nodded slowly. "You have made a wise choice, great, noble king. As per the Dark Matter Collective's policy, you will be given a very reasonable price for such a magnificient creation and if you are not satisfied of your purchase, you will be refunded. We... guarantee... that you will be satisfied."

The dark figure's red eyes set upon Marx while the king and Escargoon begun to order around the Waddle Dees to bring the payment to the transporter pad. For a moment, the jester's innocent expression broke into a fiendish grin, Marx returning the dark figure's stare. There was a slight nod coming from the dark figure and then his gaze returned to Dedede.

It was really, really too easy.

* * *

><p><strong>TO BE CONTINUED...<strong>


	4. The Yellow Puffball

**OFF:** Wrote this one in a rush of inspiration. Ended up a bit shorter than the previous chapter but should still prove interesting. Unlike the previous chapter, there should be no name mishaps.

**_Luna-the-Wolf 123:_** I'm really glad you like it so far. To be fair, I've been worried about whenever people would appreciate my portrayal of Meta Knight ; Meta Knight is the 'cool & mysterious' character of the cast which makes exploring his (many, many) issues and the potential(ly very big) reactions to them being revealed quite tricky. So I'm glad to know that you like the portrayal so far.

Thanks for noting the mistakes. Corrected those mistakes in the chapter you noted them in.

As for Marx, he's not described that much in depth but he's a manipulative type with a desire for world conquest. And well, my portrayal of him basically push him to the logical extreme.

**_Lunara the ara:_** As pointed in my comment to Luna-th-Wolf 123, that mistake has been corrected. Thanks for pointing it out anyway.

Glad you like the atmosphere so far. The beginning is indeed quite a bit melancholic and sad. I was a bit afraid that it would be overdone but is glad you found it genuinely sad rather than silly.

As for the character that Dedede is ordering his monsters from... it's indeed a character from the games. But as to which one it is, I will not give the exact answer although the physical cues should make it obvious for those familiar with the older games in the serie.

The twist of Meta Knight being about the same age as Kirby is indeed something that is not very intuitive ; as Meta Knight spent so much time among the Star Warriors and is much more adult-like (at least superficially), it seems almost obvious that he would be older. The fic do explain the theory as to why it would be probable that Meta Knight is actually not really that much older.

By extension, Meta Knight's extreme reaction is partly caused by this. On another hand, it's also caused by the fact that (anime) Meta Knight has a crazy amount of issues ; while the game version wear a mask mostly to look cool/hide that he's cute, the anime version has a very serious issues with his nature and past as a whole. So having his mask removed is a much bigger deal to him.

_**starlight590:**_ Well, as stated within the chapter, they mostly don't care about Meta Knight's appearance ; this take place after the anime serie, with Nightmare dead. After 100 episodes-worth of being together, the revelation of Meta Knight's true nature doesn't faze the cast that much.

As for the Tiff/Fumu point, thanks for pointing it out. I'm using a mixture of english and japanese names and usually, in most of my fics, I'm used to call the character "Tiff". Decided to go with "Fumu" this time and had a goof in that particular sentence. Corrected that point now.

Well, that is all for the comments. Enjoy!

* * *

><p><strong>HONOR THE PAST<strong>

CHAPTER 2:  
>The Yellow Puffball<p>

* * *

><p>"I really am not sure about this, my majesty. Is it really necessary that we-"<p>

"Look. Marx is right. What do Cappy Town needs a mayor for, if not to resist my reign? I'm the king, the ruler of Dreamland. I'm the only ruler they need and we're gonna show it!"

At this moment, the characteristic sound of someone bouncing on a ball drew closer, the king's jester making his way to the front of the throne. His large, innocent eyes stared blankly at the elder snail, Escargoon's attention shifting from his king to Marx.

"Hey hey hey, Escargoon! All set?"

The advisor had enough of this. He turned to face the jester, feeling his frustration begin to mature into anger. "Sir, with all due respect, why would it be needed for the jester to take part in this operation?"

"As Marx explained to us, it's simply a safety precaution. Ice Dragon is not as smart as he is and he's very large and very strong. In case things go wrong, he'll be there to fix things." said the king, amused by this development.

The advisor turned to his majesty, finding himself frowning deeply. He just didn't like the way things were turning out and a mix of anger, toward Marx, and worry, toward his king, was starting to seriously encroach itself in his heart. Things were changing quickly, too quickly.

"I know that we have always used force to make your will known but I still believe this is rather extreme. Is the speech really necessary, at least?"

"Stop yar yapping!" It was a friendly rebuke, one that shown clearly that Escargoon's worries were falling upon deaf ears. "Now just do your part, alright? Everything will be alright."

With a defeated sigh, the king's advisor nodded. "Fine, my majesty..."

As he begun to make his way toward the exit of the room, the advisor shot a murderous glare at the jester. The small, adorable Demon Beast simply bounced on his ball happily, as if unaware. He could swear that it was smirking and laughing at him when no one was looking.

Marx, him, could only marvel at how smooth things were going, as usual. This town has absolutely no idea of the fate that is about to befall them...

* * *

><p>Things had taken a strange turn ever since his allies had learnt of his true nature. In a way, things were back to how they always had been. He had resumed training his knaves, practiced the sword, patrolled the hallways searching for clues on whatever was happening, eavesdropping on whatever Dedede and Escargoon were up to, and of course, visiting town for various reasons.<p>

But a few subtle changes had come to the routine. Fumu had always been friendlier than everyone else to him, her keen intellect always fitting well with his own insight upon things. But with the revelation of his true nature, she had taken an even greater interest in him. She visited much more often and while she had discussed mostly of things related to the Star Warriors and the environment in the past, she had begun to share information on many of the other subjects that fascinated her.

Likewise, there was how Bun had begun to act. He had mostly ignored him in the past, mostly seeing him as just another adult but he had begun to wave at him whenever they passed each others in town, his attitude more relaxed than before.

Then there was the demon hunters, Knuckle Joe and Silica. Knuckle Joe had become friendlier as well and far less demanding. He had also begun to train much harder, much more seriously than before. It was as if what he had learnt about the Star Warrior had inspired him somehow. Silica, too, had begun to work harder than before although he had that feeling that it was for a far less friendly reason.

He had always known that Silica wished to wield the Galaxia and that she had never really seen the masked knight as such a big deal and with the revelation of his real age and nature, Meta Knight had no illusions as to the fact that she'd soon try once more to take the title of Galaxia's wielder from him. In a way, he guessed that was convenient as it would give him a justification to train.

So, mostly, it was the same as always he guessed.

Through his mask, the blue puffball in the mirror of his room did not seem to agree though. He still seemed as depressingly sad as usual, frustrated even. For some reason, it felt as if an old wound had been opened and it had begun to burn him anew. Why would his allies being friendlier make things worse?

The door suddenly burst open as Blade and Sword barged into the room. The knight spun to face his knaves, instantly noticing that they were panting, their swords in their hands.

"Sir! It's terrible! Dedede got a new Demon Beast! A huge one!" Considering Blade's ragged breath, it was obvious the two had run all the way here.

"Escargoon is bringing it to the town square! Marx is with him!" added the other brother.

This was all Meta Knight need to hear. He positioned his cape and then nodded to his knaves. It was his duty to give assistance.

* * *

><p>"Citizens of Dreamland, hear me!" called Escargoon at the top of his voice, speaking to the crowd of Cappies that had all gathered around him.<p>

The old advisor was on top of a stand by the mayor's house, the jester bouncing innocently on a ball right next to him. Of course, Marx's presence was not as innocent and inconsequential as it seemed...

"We want nothing to do with that old jerk Dedede!" called one of the Cappies.

"He always try to bully us around!" called another.

"He's always stealing our possessions!" yet another voice.

"He killed Kirby! The bastard!" the wave of indignation from the crowd grew, the anger almost palpable.

Seeing the hesitation in the snail, Marx bounced a tiny bit closer to him... "Surely you must remember the king's orders. I bet you don't want to... disappoint... our majesty. Carry with the speech as planned."

His whisper, mischievous and casual as ever, still chilled the advisor to the very core. He gathered his thoughts and proceeded...

"Today is the beginning of a new era! In the past, your king, the great, noble Dedede was busy keeping the peace through an agreed truce between Dreamland and the NME Enterprise. But now, this era is over. With Nightmare gone, your liege lord may now restore order to our kingdom, ending the confusion and disorder that plagued it. For he is aware of your confusion, of your anger and of how Kirby, the Star Warriors, and all those outsiders failed to protect you."

As if on cue, the massive shadow that had stood not too far from the stand begun to move. The crowd of Cappies begun to back off, their anger fading as they noticed the almost mountain-sized monster that was walking toward them, each of its steps echoing trough the entire city, causing the earth to shake. The massive reptilian abomination stopped by the side of the stand, freezing like a statue...

"Now, your king shall reassert his authority. No longer will this land swim within the seas of anarchy. All shall know about the will of our great king, Dedede, and know his and her place in his grand schemes. Today, our king shall make the first step toward a brand new future! For a stronger, new Dreamland! In the name of Dedede!"

There was a wave of whispers among the residents. Their anger was still burning but the sight of the giant blue figure was doing wonders to keep them from speaking out, only the bravest starting to whisper to the others. Before, back when Kirby was alive, the citizens would have thrown rocks at Escargoon while their champion would have driven that monster back to the darkness where it belonged but without the protection of the infant Star Warrior, the crowd became almost quiet.

The bravest among them whispered of Kirby's former allies and friends, of the brave companions that had helped him. Knuckle Joe and Silica were here and of course, there was sir Meta Knight and his two knaves, Blade and Sword. Perhaps, they would save them from such a horror.

"You can't boss us around anymore! What would you do anyway, besides stealing our stuff? Dedede is no king!"

Who issued the challenge did not matter. What did was the mayor of the Cappies stepping out of his house to look at the scene unfolding before his home. Marx's gaze turned to the older Cappy and he noted that although distraught, was not doing anything to bring back order. The jester whispered once more to the old advisor...

"The mayor is not teaching the peasants their proper place. You know what this means, Escargoon..."

"I can't do this." Escargoon was still staring at the crowd. "I would do anything for the king but this... this is..."

"Obey your king's order." Marx's retort was cold and cut like a razor. It was also true ; Dedede had ordered it, there was no way around it.

The snail took one last look at the citizens and then turned to the mayor, still on his balcony. Their gazes met for a moment, the confusion obvious on the Cappy's face...

Then, resigned, Escargoon carried on.

"Our kingdom does not need a mayor. Dedede will single-handedly bring back order to Dreamland. And through your refusal to calm the population, you have helped disorder and chaos fester in the kingdom. Thus, mayor, I, in the name of King Dedede, sentence you and your family to be turned into ice statues. Your sentence shall be applied right now, through the power of Dedede's newest minion, Ice Dragon!"

Everyone's eyes widened as they saw the monstrous blue wizard turn to face the mayor. An expression of fear was over the mayor's face as he saw the monster take a step toward his house. The Demon Beast was so large that it was almost taller than his house, a terrifying sight to be certain.

"Su-surely there must be a way to solve this misunderstanding..." he mumbled, each step the Ice Dragon took toward his home telling him that this was no idle threat. Dedede was serious this time.

The Ice Dragon's dopey, blank eyes suddenly focused. The slitted, yellow eyes bore through the mayor like drills, primal rage oozing from the gaze. A low growling sound shook the entire town as the monstrous creature glared at the Cappy. The inevitable staring him in the face, the Mayor felt his entire frame freeze from terror. He wanted to run back inside, to take his wife and grand-kids and then to run as far away as possible, to save himself and them from what was surely to come. But the sheer malice that came from the Ice Dragon froze his entire body.

The Ice Dragon opened its mouth wide and blew. A spray of ice and liquid nitrogen erupted from the Demon Beast's mouth, spraying over the mayor's house at an explosive pace. The mayor's scream of terror died halfway in his throat as the ice breath covered him from head to toes, dropping the temperature of his body by such a margin and in such a brutal fashion that his entire frame was instantly flash-frozen on the spot, his body literally turned to that of a statue. The entire house seemed to change color as massive spires of ice formed from the nitrogen that impacted before it.

In less than a minute, the mayor's house and all that it had once contained was turned into a humongous block of ice. Its task completed, Ice Dragon's eyes rebecame unfocused and dopey, the monster slowly waddling back into position as if nothing had happened.

Every Cappy stared in horrified, terrified awe...

"Should you comply with our great, noble king's will, no harm shall come to you and you shall all enjoy the stability, peace, and prosperity of Dedede's renewed reign. However, all those who shall resist the will of our majesty shall be punished swiftly and mercilessly. Resistance will earn you nothing but the wrath of the king."

"This... this is disgusting!" a voice cut through the crowd.

It was Fumu, looked positively enraged at the sight of what she had seen. "This is not the act of a noble king, this is act of a monstrous, bloodthirsty tyrant!"

Marx's eyes set upon the little girl and her brother. While Escargoon was surprised as usual, the jester had predicted correctly that the annoying girl and her brother would show up. They had somewhat of a hero complex and although they could not oppose directly, he knew that if they were here, then their allies were about to show up in the next few seconds, if not right now.

And just as he had planned, they shown up indeed. The masked knight and his knaves arrived from one side while Knuckle Joe and Silica arrived from the other. This was going to be very, very interesting. Although his expression did not change, he was grinning viciously internally.

"You're going to unfreeze them, now!" Knuckle Joe spoke up, his fellow demon hunter unsheathing her blade.

"Hey hey hey! Not to intrude or something..." Marx suddenly drew the attention to himself. "... but unless any of you have the ability to use pure fire powers, there's not much you can do. See, Dedede used to go easy on you guys, he just thrown throwaway Demon Beasts at you. But now, he's serious. You should just give up now before you get hurt."

"Marx..." the eyes of Kirby's former allies narrowed as they recognized the Star Warrior's murderer. What was he doing here? Fumu had seen him, stand at Escargoon's side for some reason. What was that bastard planning?

Meta Knight unsheathed his sword. He glanced at his knaves, knowing that it was only a matter of time before a fight took place. "Draw the crowd away from here. We'll need all the space we can get to fight this monster."

There was no need to answer. The two knights ran toward the crowd while the masked knight gripped the handle of his blade. He found himself wanting to plunge his sword into Marx's flesh, to punish him for what he had brought to Dreamland. But that gigantic Demon Beast... it had to be destroyed now before it could rampage through the city.

As if on cue, Knuckle Joe was the first to charge and ran toward the Demon Beast before sending himself soaring, his right fist enveloped in bright, fiery energy as he unleashed a devastating uppercut. Silica followed closely behind while Meta Knight began to move. He would take on the beast from behind while the demon hunters attacked from the front.

Unfortunately, as powerful as Knuckle Joe was, his attack did not have the intended effect. His fist did connect but he felt like he had smashed his fist straight into a block of jello, the Ice Dragon's fat absorbing the kinetic energy of the punch with little difficulty, causing the attack to do no damage. But although it did no damage, it did have an effect. Unfortunately, it was a negative one as the reptilian Demon Beast's eyes focused and he looked down to see the insects attacking it. A snarling growl escaping its fanged mouth as it glared at the beings who dared to opposite it.

Silica struck next. She didn't let the lack of effect from Knuckle Joe's attack affect her ; if punches wouldn't do it, then surely cutting through with a sword would? She came in range and spun a bit, taking advantage of the momentum of her charge to deliver a powerful, horizontal sword slice at the monster's body.

But as the blade collided with the hide of the Demon Beast, it felt as if her blade was slipping on the surface of ice, almost causing her to lose her grip on her blade and to trip. Unfortunately, this also meant that the attack did little damage if any.

This was bad. But then, enemies such as dragons usually had a spot where the hide was weaker, they just had to find it. Meta Knight figured that it would probably be on the monster's back.

But just as he was about to leap on the abomination's back, Ice Dragon swung his tail, using it as a club to swat away the masked knight as if he was little more than an annoyance. The knight found himself slamming head-first into a nearby tree, the strength of the impact causing him to almost pass through it and get stuck.

This distracted Knuckle Joe who had just landed from his uppercut. Ice Dragon had obviously noticed as he then proceeded to kick the blonde-haired demon hunter, punting him like a ball and sending him flying. The demon hunter landed a good distance away, not feeling exactly too good but not out either.

This was ridiculous! Silica began to run around the monstrous dragon, jabbing his sword in-between the scales, attempting to find a weak spot. But with each stab came the same feeling of slippery ice, the same feeling of not cutting through anything.

It was then that the Ice Dragon spat a massive cube of ice out of its mouth. The large mass of ice dropped straight on the huntress's head, shattering into pieces upon impact. The sheer weight of the strike knocked her down, making the world spin for a moment. She barely saw the raised foot that Ice Dragon had brought up to squash her, dodging at the last second.

Meta Knight, with great difficulty, managed to extract himself from the tree trunk in which he had been stuck. But as he turned to return to the battle, his heart sank at the sight. Knuckle Joe and Silica were skillful fighters and the fact that they were managing to dodge the dragon's attacks was admirable... but it was obvious that none of their attacks were working. They were not even scratching the dragon and the knight knew very well that as a sword user, it also meant his attacks were useless.

The thing... it had to have a weak point. But the more Knuckle Joe and Silica jabbed and stabbed at it, the less it seemed like it had one. It was becoming increasingly obvious that they could not win this fight.

"Our attacks are not doing anything!" yelled Silica, stating the obvious.

"This thing... got... to have a weak point!" Knuckle Joe yelled back, as he dodged yet one more of those massive ice cubes, going for the back, keeping on punching, still getting either a jelly-like reaction or just plain hurting his fists on the scales.

"You can't defeat it! We need to run, we need to regroup!"

"If only Kirby was here..." despite how quiet that last reply was, Meta Knight heard it perfectly.

If only Kirby was there... he would have been able to use fire powers to counter Ice Dragon's armored hide. If only Kirby was there...

It was useless. All that the Demon Hunters were managing is accumulating more and more bruises from fighting the dragon. They were not denting it at all, not even in the slightest. So they did the only logical thing... they ran. They ran while trying to think of a way to defeat it.

And Meta Knight stood there. He had failed. He had made no difference. He had been swatted away and then, stood there, uselessly, when they had needed him...

"If only Kirby was here..."

The words echoed in his mind and his heart sank.

Fumu watched as Dedede's Demon Beast not only defeated but outright humiliated Dreamland's defenders. The entire crowd, even pushed away by Meta Knight's knaves, saw everything. They had seen them fail, saw them not manage to even dent the monster. They had been helpless... completely helpless. Just as helpless as Dedede claimed, just as helpless as Kirby had been before a true Demon Beast...

Marx grinned internally in utter triumph. Just as predicted, Ice Dragon's frozen hide proved effective against the punching and slashing attacks used by the last of Dreamland's defenders. The demonstration had fulfilled both of his goals, proving to the population that obedience was the only way to survive and also proving that resistance was futile. If Kirby, Meta Knight, and the demon hunters could not resist Dedede then no one could. His plans had succeeded.

Too easy, really way too easy.

* * *

><p>"If only Kirby was here..."<p>

The masked knight stared at his reflection. The injuries that Knuckle Joe and Silica had received had not been major. It seemed that the Demon Beast had been aware that they were no threat and had merely batted them away until they had given up. Meta Knight replayed the scene in his mind but the more he thought about it, the less he could see how this fight could have been won.

Obviously, that dragon was nearly immune to physical attacks and could have been only harmed with magical attacks. Maybe they would have won if he had used Galaxia?

... no. That would have caused more problems than it would have solved. Every time he use Galaxia, it placed a bullseye on Pop Star and if this monster was a representation of the kind of Demon Beast that Marx's masters could deploy, then using Galaxia would merely delay the inevitable. Without a large army or the ability to counter such abilities, there was no way to repel such an enemy.

"If only Kirby was here..."

It was ironic. For the longest time, he had seen Kirby as weak, as wasting his potential. To copy the abilities of enemies, to rely on stolen powers instead of one's own strength... Meta Knight had taken it upon himself to train Kirby with the intent of someday eliminating this dependence. Yet, today, if Kirby had been here, his Copy Ability would have allowed them to save the day.

Now, because of this, innocents had been flash-frozen and the population lived in fear of Dedede. Whoever Marx's masters were, the victory had been total today.

The masked knight stared at the mirror in his room. He saw his own frame, hidden under the armor, the shame visible even through the visor of his mask. He had failed them, failed everyone. He had failed just as miserably as he had failed the Star Warriors. They had been unable to protect anyone and were forced to run away.

Run away... he had run away back then. Run from the death, from the Demon Beasts, run far and without looking back. He still remembered the screams, the piles of corpses for miles upon end where the Star Warriors had pointless, futilely tried to stop the Demon Beast hordes.

This nightmare... this nightmare! It should be gone! Nightmare is dead, the NME Enterprise has fallen apart! Why didn't the nightmare end? Why didn't the darkness leave? How can evil remain so strong and triumphant with its head, its source, its life force cut off?

It... it shouldn't be like this! It should have never been like this! The Star Warriors should have won the war! Kirby should have had a peaceful life! They should... they should all be together! He... he should...

"If only Kirby was here..."

He missed him, missed his laugh, his innocent babbling, his happiness. He missed his courage, his willingness to protect, to love, and to forgive. He missed him in so many ways and now that they needed him more than ever, he was gone, forever. If only he was still here...

He is a disgrace to the Star Warriors. He cannot do this alone. He never could. Why did Galaxia allow him to wield it? He is a coward, a failure who survived only because he was too scared to stand his ground and fight...

He didn't even deserve that mask of his.

He undid the straps and threw it across the room but this fit of anger did not bring him comfort, leaving a hollow, empty void within him. So he sat down on the floor and brought his gloved paws to his eyes, letting the darkness swallow his mind...

If only... if only... if only...

He did not know how long he sat there but eventually, reality asserted itself once more upon his mind. The knight looked to the mirror and stared at the blue puffball, tears rolling down his cheeks. The despair on his face was so crushing, so depressing it reached even Meta Knight's heart. What could they do, with Kirby gone and with a foe who could counter their abilities so perfectly?

The mask... the mask of Meta Knight.

He was Dedede's knight, a member of his army. He could... forget. He could... accept. Just keep order, just mind his own business. Remain quiet, remain silent, forget. To just put the mask on, to do his patrols as he always did, to train his knaves as he always did. Talk to the inhabitants, to Fumu. Speak with the hunters, get news from afar. Continue his work as a knight... to accept his part as a part of the king's court.

To accept... to serve the orders of the king who, himself, served Marx's masters. To serve his pupil's murderer. To serve the Demon Beasts, the darkness.

He... wouldn't bring harm to anyone. He wouldn't kill anyone. Just stay quiet, live in peace, forget all about Star Warriors, about his failures, about everything. Bury the past once and for all.

He stared at the blue puffball in the mirror, at that puffball that was so much like Kirby. Meta Knight removed his gloves and slowly, stared at his fingerless limbs. So soft, like Kirby's were...

The same eyes as his pupil's stared back, white color, pink stars reflecting within, like a counterpart to the blue ones the infant Star Warrior had... an infant not unlike the blue puffball. Such sadness, such despair, such uncertainty... it broke the knight's heart.

He would not serve the Demon Beasts. Never. He would rather die than do so. He took Galaxia away from them because he rejected them. He would never serve the darkness, ever.

The knight stared at the blue puffball who looked so much like Kirby...

"You are not Kirby..." he said to his reflection.

He remembered the candy, remembered the jar, remembered the inhaling. He was a Demon Beast, a vile being. He had put on the mask to reject that nature. But now... if he put that mask on, if he forget... he will be embracing that nature anew. He... don't want that. He don't want to hurt people. He want to be a Star Warrior so much... he want... he want...

"I can't do it... I can't do it..."

He didn't want to be a Demon Beast. But the knight could not defeat this enemy. The knight was a failure, a coward who had run away and let all those he cared for die. Even Kirby, the closest thing to a family he had, was gone before of his cowardice. He couldn't do this... but he couldn't...

"Kirby wouldn't let this happen..."

He wouldn't. Unlike him, he had spent all of those years in a stasis ship, sleeping. He wasn't trained, wasn't given a fancy legendary sword. Yet... Kirby wouldn't have let this happen. He wouldn't have let a dumb dragon get the best out of him. He... wouldn't have been moping around while people suffered.

Had he truly been the more mature one of the two? The blue puffball who couldn't accept his nature and hid from everyone, never helping because he's afraid and claiming it's because they don't need his help?

"I can't let this happen..."

Kirby wouldn't let this happen. And if he couldn't... then why would he? He... he didn't know if he could do it. He could barely remember. It had been so long, so painful...

Then, they would see him for what he is, see him as a Demon Beast. He didn't want this. He couldn't let this happen. But he could not stand still. He could not wait...

If only... there was another.

Meta Knight saw the blue puffball in the mirror... and silently, he got up and walked to one of his closets.

Maybe... he needs... a new mask...

* * *

><p>Dedede sat contently in his great chair as the Waddle Dees carried his massive bulk around town. The atmosphere had sure changed since he had first sent Ice Dragon as per Marx's suggestion. Now the people looked to him with respect, making way for him, doing whatever he wanted.<p>

Escargoon was still bothered by this. Who cares? As long as he do his job. He sure is convenient as a messenger. Which reminds the king... maybe he should think of giving the advisor title to Marx now. He's the one who makes all of the suggestions nowadays and unlike Escargoon, they're always good ideas.

Speaking of Marx... he was with him, still on his ball as always.

"Hey everyone! I got the funniest joke!" called Marx.

Then, at this moment, a stand of vegetables in the marketplace near Dedede broke down. The Cappy who owned the stand cringed as his precious veggies rolled all over the place. Nearby Cappies tripped on the veggies...

"That's a veggie roll to fall down!" he finished.

The king errupted into laughter. "Heehahaha! You're such a mischievous little jester! I like you Marx!"

He then turned his gaze to the various inhabitants who were staring at the Cappy who was busy trying to reclaim his veggies, a few of the citizens trying to help. This made the king frown.

"Outta my way! Or it's the Ice Dragon for you! You all remember Ice Dragon, right?"

A collective chill went through the marketplace and every Cappy stepped away, clearing the path for the penguin king. Dedede relaxed in his chair, satisfied with the outcome.

"Haaaa, now that is life! Marx? Where's Ice Dragon?"

"Still sleeping at the central square, just behind our current location." answered the jester.

"Well, I reckon that although the joke was funny, those Cappies getting in my way wasn't. ICE DRAGON!" the call made every Cappy freeze, their eyes widening in pure terror, their bodies starting to shake out of control. "Freeze the vegetable shopkeeper and his house!"

Across town, the hulking figure of the Ice Dragon came to life. His dopey eyes focused and a snarling expression of rage formed on its face. The very ground shook with the strength of the Demon Beast's growl.

Dedede couldn't help but laugh at the reaction of all those Cappies. Marx had been right along. Why hadn't he tried being feared rather than loved? It sure was a lot easier and funnier! If he had done this in the first place, maybe his life would be very different right now. But oh well, that was before Marx was sent to him. Truly the best Demon Beast he ever purchased in his life, that's for sure! That Dark Matter Collective sure is a helluva better than the NME Enterprise had ever been!

But then, something unexpected happened.

Rather than expelling a terrifying blast of ice and liquid nitrogen, the Ice Dragon gulped down, flinching as a fireball flew from the marketplace and then slammed straight into the monster's head.

For the first time in days, Marx's smile vanished and his attention slipped. He found himself losing his footing and fell off his ball, landing painfully on his head. But despite the dizziness that came to him from it, that was the least of his worries as he sprung back to his feet.

That had not been part of his plans! Had the demon hunters called for help? Surely there were no demon hunters who had such powers in this part of the galaxy? Who had unleashed such an attack?

"Hey! Is that...?" one of the Cappies pointed toward one of the roofs near the central square.

Dedede's eyes narrowed as he tried to look into the distance... and then, his jaw dropped. He blinked a few times.

"Am I... seeing this right?" he asked to no one in particular.

On top of rooftop was a familiar puffball. One that was supposed to be very, very dead. Yet there was Kirby, standing on top of that rooftop, the Ability Cap for the Fire Ability right on his head, a determined expression on his face.

This was impossible, of course. Kirby is dead and buried. His grave is somewhere out of town with his body rotting in a casket. Yet there was a puffball out there with a Fire Ability. Escargoon and Marx, paying more attention, did notice a difference. It was hard to tell from such a distance... but Kirby was pink, everyone knew that. The puffball that was standing on the rooftop was yellow.

The yellow puffball's eyes narrowed as he stared at the monstrous Ice Dragon. Although he wanted to look confident, standing in a battle pose, he couldn't help but feel nervous, vulnerable somehow. The monster's gaze was boring into his frame, the attack having broken through one of its previously invulnerable scales.

The Demon Beast roared in pure anger. This yellow newcomer had hurt it and this had brought it out of its previously docile state. Its previously thought to be mostly slow frame was now bouncing at an improbable pace, the monster throwing a temper tantrum, eyes widened in pure berserk fury. This was not good, the yellow puffball had counted on the monstrous being as slow as when the demon hunters had attempted to fight it.

The counter-attack was swift but thankfully predictable. The yellow warrior jumped off of the rooftop as the freezing ray splashed over the rooftop, turning to ice the spot where the mysterious puffball had previously been. Landing on the ground, the puffball turned to the Demon Beast and then exhaled a breath of his own, this one fiery in nature.

This turned out to be a good idea as the monster had closed in, intent on squashing the insect that had hurt it. The stream of flames burnt into his feet and lower body, melting the scales that had protected the being from attack previously. Roaring in pain, it reeled back, each miniature earthquake from its steps threatening to knock the yellow puffball off its feet.

But despite squealing in a panicky way as the ground eluded his grip, the mysterious warrior managed to regain his footing and prepared himself to go on the offensive again, unwilling to let the Demon Beast get the initiative.

Of course, such an event had attracted the attention of the whole town.

Blade and Sword had been walking nearby to try and their minds off from the fiasco that had happened the other day and were shocked when they saw what was basically a yellow copy of Kirby fighting the Demon Beast that their lord had failed to defeat previously.

Likewise, Fumu and Bun, on the outer rims of the town, saw the fight from there. Something was resisting Dedede's monster... and even from vast distances, it was obvious that whatever it was, it was winning.

The yellow puffball unleashed as much power as he could. His opponent was monstrously large and even with all the fire he was spitting, he was still nowhere near defeating the Demon Beast. But as the population watched, it became obvious that massive parts of the Ice Dragon's previously smooth armor had been melted off, revealing much rougher, vulnerable dark blue scales underneath.

Blade and Sword didn't have to be asked twice. Even if their lord wasn't there, it was their duty to intervene. With Silica and Knuckle Joe away, it was up to them to help.

They noticed that the mysterious puffball was expending much of his energy and was starting to get sloppy. He was obviously less experienced than Kirby had been and there was a definite hesitation to his movements. Still, there was no fear, a similar determination all over his features.

The yellow puffball made a mistake, slipping in one of his movements. The Ice Dragon noticed it and brought a foot upward, intending to squash his opponent once and for all. This was the two armored warriors' cue to act.

Just as the mysterious Fire Ability-using warrior turned to see the foot coming down and squealed in shock, Blade leaped and plunged his sword deep into the monster's leg while Sword flanked the beast to strike at its side. The armored scales melted off, the blades plunged straight into the Demon Beast's frame and drawn blood, causing it to reel backward once more.

The yellow puffball looked confused but the two warriors simply looked to him and nodded. There was nothing to say, only a duty to be accomplished.

Standing together, the yellow puffball begun to move forward, blowing flame after flame in a continuous barrage, as fast as he could. The two knaves darted back and forth as the monster was pushed back more and more, stabbing and slashing, weakening the monster more and more. It frantically sprayed ice rays all over the place but with the three keeping the pressure, it could not put up an adequate resistance.

Fumu watched in awe. She could barely believe this was happening... and yet, here she was, seeing it. A second puffball, one like Kirby...

But just as Blade, Sword, and the mysterious warrior were getting the upper hand, the Ice Dragon roared and spun, turning its back to its opponents and catching the yellow puffball with its tail. The impact sent the warrior flying, making him yell out in pain... and making him lose his ability, his power flying out as a star before shattering on the ground nearby.

Fumu didn't hesitate. Although the town mostly used electricity, there were still a few conveniently placed torches at the town square. She approached one of the poles holding one of them in place and yanked the torch off before turning to the yellow puffball just as he got back on his feet. Then, she hurled it toward him with all of her strength.

"Inhale it!" she called.

There was a brief moment of incomprehension on the yellow Kirby lookalike but as he saw the torch, he understood and opened his mouth wide, inhaling the torch. There was a flash of light and the mysterious warrior had his ability back.

The Ice Dragon had been pushed nearly out of the city limits by now and was slowing down, the various injuries it had received finally taking their toll. But although they were slowly killing it, Blade and Sword knew they were getting tired and that their sword wouldn't be able to give the finishing blow. Just as they stepped back, they saw the yellow puffball run past them.

The Ice Dragon tried to bring up the strength to stomp the puffball but it jumped and then enveloped itself in flames before tackling the monster. Weakened by all of the abuse it had taken, the reptilian Demon Beast collapsed, falling on its back. It opened its mouth wide, trying to muster the last of its power to blast the yellow puffball and bring it down with it... but the puffball's eyes glowed with determination and he wrapped himself into bright flames, diving straight into the dragon's mouth in the form of a fireball.

With a sickening popping sound, the puffball tore through the Demon Beast's head, emerging on the other side. Its brain burnt off and its body too badly damaged, the Ice Dragon slumped to the floor and closed its eyes. A strange black liquid poured out of its many wounds as it shrunk to the size of a small lizard barely higher than one's foot, the liquid instantly evaporating to the contact of the abundant sunlight...

Before the shocked gazes of all of Cappy Town, Ice Dragon had been destroyed.

By now, the various Cappies as well as Fumu and her brother had approached the scene. Many could still hardly believe that someone had been able to destroy the monster that had foiled so easily Kirby's former friends, including sir Meta Knight himself. But the truth was staring them in the face...

Blade and Sword, their duty accomplished, sheathed their swords. In a way, they could barely believe they had just defeated, with the help of some Kirby lookalike, a Demon Beast let alone one so huge and in particular one that their lord could not defeat. It was almost unbelievable...

"We have to thank you in the name of all of Cappy Town and on behalf of our lord, Meta Knight. Without you, I don't know what could have happened." said Blade.

They all stared at the puffball as he released his ability, returning to normal. The way he sat down, the way he panted, his voice tone... the similarity with Kirby was so shocking as to be unbelievable. Even the way it then looked to the two, its gaze filled with childish gentleness...

They also noted the fear in his eyes, the uncertainty, the hesitation. It reminded them of when Kirby had first arrived, of when their lord had first found him. Maybe a new Star Warrior infant from the stars?

"Pray tell, do you have a name, warrior?"

The yellow child stared at the two and then looked to the crowd to see Fumu and Bun, approaching him, smiling...

"That was so cool! You all saw how he defeated that huge monster, right?" went Bun, very excited.

"He used that strange power, like Kirby could!" said one Cappy.

"Yeah! I saw him! He even inhaled that torch the girl thrown at him, like Kirby could!"

Fumu remained silent and smiled as everyone begun to whisper. The two knaves looked to the yellow puffball, waiting patiently for an answer. The child blinked, looked at the crowd... as if it couldn't believe it. Then, after a moment, as it recovered its breath, it brought itself to its feet and smiled widely.

"Mety."

"Mety? Your name's Mety?" repeated Sword. The yellow puffball thought for a moment and then nodded energically.

"Yep! Mety!"

"Mety? Almost reminds me of someone I know. He's quite a funny fellow you know. Call himself Meta Knight!" went Bun. "Say, you wanna become friends?"

Before he knew it, Mety was finding himself surrounded with grateful Cappies. The looks of relief as they knew that Ice Dragon would no longer freeze their friends and families, the sheer happiness... and then there was the friendly attitude, the way they all wanted to be near him, to touch him...

He could feel butterflies inside of his stomach, his entire body warming up. They were all... so grateful, so happy. He... didn't know what to do... but he couldn't, he wanted, he needed...

Apparently, his face betrayed it as the crowd calmed down.

"Is there a problem?" asked Fumu.

"Go... need go..." said the yellow puffball sadly.

"You'll be back?" asked one of the younger Cappies.

"Maybe... dunno..." said the puffball.

"Well, have a safe journey. If you ever pass by Dreamland, know that you will always be welcome here." said Blade.

The yellow puffball waved happily at the crowd before beginning to walk off toward the distance, leaving as mysteriously as he had appeared...

Sword crossed his arms, pondering this latest development.

Mety...

His voice... it had sounded familiar and not just in its similarity to Kirby's. Maybe... no. That would be unthinkable. Still, he'll definitely have to talk to Meta Knight about this.

* * *

><p>Marx was not happy. He was not happy at all. Of course, Dedede was not happy either but this wasn't important. Kirby is dead yet somehow, a new puffball with the same power shown up. This was not what had been predicted, this was not what had been planned. Marx felt upset. He hated feeling upset. He hated being surprised in this way.<p>

The plan will not be stopped. Everything is going according to schedule, true but he will not allow interferences to be made possible. This new puffball must be eliminated. Hope is not a desirable factor in his plans and he will not allow it to get in the way.

"I am disappointed. Very, very disappointed." he said. "It's really too bad, you know. Everything was going so smoothly too."

He turned to the figure of Escargoon, chained in the middle of the room, trying in vain to struggle free. What a waste of energy...

"I was even going to just get you fired. I hate leaving messes behind. I like things to be efficient."

He hovered closer to the soon to be former advisor, his massive gold wings trailing behind him. He could smell the fear of the snail, hear him try to call for help as he struggled. Marx brought a three-clawed limb to the old advisor's forehead...

"Oh don't panic like that. I like things efficient. Killing you would create too many inconvenient questions. Rather... all I'll do is... how can I put it? Well, I'll just trim off your free will."

And at that moment, something wet, something cold crawled up Escargoon's frame. He looked down and to his horror, saw what seemed to be a puddle of black liquid crawl up his body. It slowly made its way up his frame before stopping on his neck, somehow rising to form a black ball, a single, glowing yellow eye forming on it.

"Now now, say 'haaaa'!"

Escargoon's scream was muffled by the black sphere as it shoved itself down his throat.

* * *

><p><strong>TO BE CONTINUED...<strong>


	5. Mety Down, Knight Out

**OFF: **Sorry for the wait on this chapter. I caught an eyesight illness that made it seem like my eyeballs were set on fire every time I looked at any source of light (which include computer screens) so the fic had to be put on hiatus for a short while. I received a treatment to the illness and now feel good enough to write again so... here goes! Hope you will find the wait to have been worth it.

_To Lunara the ara:_ Glad that you really like the fic so far. Most of your questions should be answered by this chapter, I think. And yes, a point is that Meta Knight tries to be stoic, keyword being 'tries'. Whenever he's truly as cold as he appears to be (or thinks he appears to be) is another story. Likewise, I am aware that Kirby's death is quite an unique and sad plot twist.

_To kitzykat:_ I'm very glad you find the story good. Although I am confident in the plot's quality, I admit I'm always worried that Kirby being killed off and it not being a fake-out may draw off readers so I'm glad to see people appreciating the story. For the grammar thing... I am aware that I'm not exactly perfect. Glad that the story is still good enough for it to be worth reading despite my failings in english.

_To DoceoPercepto:_ Glad that you find it original. And well, the idea for this fic came from a few facts. As I'm a buff regarding the game franchise, I know that Meta Knight is basically a blue Kirby underneath all of his armor and mask. This, doubled with taking into account how long ago various events must have taken place in the anime setting, and Meta Knight is probably a century old... which is exactly the same age as Kirby, with the only difference that Meta Knight spent that century doing a lot of things instead of being stuck in a spaceship. And given that Kirby in the anime is still a kid and will be until he's three hundred years-old... what do this makes Meta Knight? Thus came the idea for this fic. As for Marx, wanted a smart villain who would kick Meta Knight (and the anime setting as a whole) out of their comfort zone. I took Marx, an established smart Kirby villain, and then took him to his natural conclusion when applied to the anime setting.

_To starlight590:_ Yeah, it was a Dark Matter that Marx put inside of Escargoon. As for the yellow puffball point... well, read on!

* * *

><p><strong>HONOR THE PAST<strong>

CHAPTER 3:  
>Mety Down, Knight Out<p>

* * *

><p>The water had been colored a shade of yellow and orange, the texture oily. Scrubbing his body, the knight couldn't help but become fascinated by the inky liquid that slowly slid off of his frame. In a way, it was not unlike a mask that covered his entire body.<p>

The thought made the puffball giggle a bit. He pictured a puffball, waering a mask that somehow covered the entire body, not even leaving room for armor or a cape. It was a ridiculous, funny image and a wide smile could be seen on his face as he chuckled to himself. It suddenly reminded him of those pranks that Kirby would do, cutting a mask of his own out of cardboard and then going around shouting 'Kirby Knight'! It was such an adorable image and in a way, he couldn't help but think that the late Star Warrior had looked kind of cool with a mask on.

It had made him happy, that was for sure. He could remember the pure joy on his face. It was a weightless feeling, this happiness. He didn't have to force himself to smile or keep calm, the smile just wouldn't leave his face. Such happy memories...

It was almost hard to believe that someone who had been so full of life was gone.

The skin was blue underneath the paint. It was the same blue that was underneath his metallic mask. He remembered how the puffball had acted, how he had unleashed his power. It had been such a long time since he had felt such fear, such nervosity. When he had stood on that rooftop, he had tried to look confident and mysterious but he hadn't been able to shake the feeling of how silly he had to look, with that silly hat on and that unbearably childishly cute face. Who in their right mind would take such a warrior seriously?

Then he remembered the roar, the rage of the monster. He had forgotten how much the metal comforted him, how its protection had numbed him to such feelings. The breeze on his body, the sound that battered him, the heat of the sun... was this how Kirby felt, how he lived?

He remembered how the knaves had fought. They were novices, much less skillful than the masked knight or even Silica. Yet, even such amateurs had made a significant difference. All together, they had fought the great monster and brought it down.

And for a moment, the knight was confused.

This power that had flowed through his veins, this sheer energy that had went through him... without the weight of his armor, without the feel of a blade in his paws or the touch of his mechanical wing-cape on his back, he had found himself relying upon his own power. He had felt so clumsy, so afraid, so stupid. He had failed miserably when he and two more experienced warriors had fought that monster. What did he think? That painting his body and going around with a power that wasn't his made him Kirby somehow?

Yet, it had worked, somehow. The power of the Fire Ability had, in his paws, undone the protection of the great Demon Beast. The blades of his knaves, usually so useless, had drained the monster of its strength and will to fight. The power of Galaxia had not been needed. In fact, he had not even needed his sword. By unleashing such power, he had destroyed such a monstrous Demon Beast that previously, he thought only Galaxia would have been able to overcome...

This confused him deeply.

Why had he been able to prevail when previously he couldn't? What had he done differently? It certainly wasn't his skills or gracefulness that had achieved it, that he knew. His movements had been so clumsy that if Arthur were there, he would have recycled him through basic training so fast he'd still feel dizzy. It certainly wasn't the sheer power he had wielded as for all the power that had flowed in his veins, he knew the Fire Ability to be inferior to his skills with the sword.

But something else had also puzzled him. The way the crowd had reacted, the way his knaves had acted, the way Fumu and her brother had run to him. He had always stood in the background, emerging to help when needed. But at that moment, when he had the Fire Ability in his grasp, when he stood against that monster... everyone's gazes had shifted to him and... he had seen, felt no hatred from them, no fear, no disgust. They had... cheered for him. The knaves had sprung into action to assist him without even being asked to. And when he had found himself raked by pain, Fumu helped him without even being called for, even calling to him the way she once did for Kirby...

Had this been how Kirby had felt, when he was this planet's defender? He had always wondered how the pink Star Warrior managed to stay so innocent, so happy, so childishly happy and satisfied of his fate when so much pressure was on his tiny shoulders. He had expected the weight to be dreadful, for him to be tortured by the thoughts of those he had failed not unlike him...

... but as he had stood there, the monster down, he had seen... gratitude. And somehow, it had felt... good. And for some reason, it had made him feel... happy. Not proud, he wasn't vain like that, Arthur had seen to that. But he had felt... happy, content. He had smiled and he still did, when he thought of those beings and knew that, somehow, he had managed to protect them.

Had the mask worked? Had the paint been effective? He remembered being so frustrated, so sad at the idea of not doing anything. He was the mature, mysterious Meta Knight! He always had the solution to everything!... or so thought the inhabitants of this planet.

In truth, he had failed everyone. He had survived where all the other Star Warriors had died because he had seen how useless he was and had run away. But... Kirby had trusted him, believed in him. The inhabitants of this town looked to him as some sort of mystical figure who knew so many mysterious things.

He couldn't have just let that monster rampage through the city but he had seen his sword failing him. It had been a childish idea, a reckless decision. Grabbing one of those spray cans given to him by Fumu, throwing away his armor, changing his mask into one of yellow and orange liquids...

It had worked. It had to have worked. They didn't hate him, didn't fear him. So they hadn't seen the Demon Beast inside. Likewise, they had treated him like another puffball, like Kirby. So they had to have been fooled. His identity was still a secret.

The water was really dirty by now but it didn't really matter. All of the paint was gone and once more, he was as he had been. Still, as he emerged from the bath and dried himself, he couldn't help but turn to his mirror, as always. He saw the blue puffball, blinking innocently as ever, as if expecting something to be said.

He had felt so embarassed when the crowd had gathered. He needed not to blow his cover with words since his visual one had worked. He had needed to do something, anything so he could get away. So since they thought he was another puffball, another kid like Kirby, he had begun to speak in that way Kirby did.

It had been such a silly scene, it had been so absurd and embarassing. Him, saying 'poyo'? Those clipped sentences, not thinking about what to say and just speaking aloud? Just the thought of it made a red-ish blush appear on the blue puffball's face. Which embarassed him further. That puffball looks like Kirby when he did something naughty! He's a grown-up who faked out being a kid!

"Don't give me that look!" he barked at the childish, insolant puffball. "I'm a grown-up! I really am! Yeah, I know I'm Kirby's age. It doesn't many anything! Nope! Means nothing at all!"

Yet the puffball kept staring. He glared at it, his eyes narrowing. What's that? "Oh gimme a break! You're gonna throw a tantrum or something? I'm not in denial of anything! Am not! Am not! Stop looking at me like that!"

Meta Knight found himself really starting to dislike that kid in the mirror. He is a war veteran, Kirby's ex-mentor, a respected knight in Dedede's castle! Do that sound like what a kid would do? Talk about silly!

He decided to ignore that annoying blue puffball. Puffing his cheeks up slightly in anger, the blue puffball turned his back to the reflection and sat down on the floor, crossing his arms.

He sat there, mulling over how annoying that blue puffball was. Why didn't he just leave him alone? What had he done that ever since Kirby died, he wouldn't just let go? Hadn't he sealed that Demon Beast behind his mask ages ago anyway? Why would he care if that Demon Beast was a kid like Kirby who wanted things? No one cares!

What a mess...

And well, Meta Knight couldn't help but notice that his room was a mess too. He could just picture the blue puffball chuckling at him, seeing those spray paint cans all over the floor, bits and pieces of spare armor all over the place, with nothing where it should be. It was like a kid's room, with no care as to where was where. Of course, he knew where his books were in there or where each bit of armor was... but this wasn't exactly the room of a disciplined knight and it made him frown.

Those kids... he remembered the kids after he had destroyed the dragon. They had asked him to be friends, asked him if he could play with them. And for a moment, the knight paused and turned back to the blue puffball in the mirror.

It was such a dreamy smile, so full of hope, so full of desire. He knew that Arthur had raised and trained him... but had he ever played with other children? No, of course not. Star Warriors are chosen by destiny and must dedicate their lives to their sacred duties. Infants not mentally ready to be Star Warriors are stuffed into stasis ships and sent through the universe, where they will either remain until they emerge ready to begin their training or until the ships are sent hurtling to battlefields, where they will be taught by fire. Due to having escaped with Galaxia, he was worthy of being trained rather than put to sleep and had been sent to war alongside the other Star Warriors as it should be.

It was indeed as it should be. He thought back of Kirby, who had been judged immature however. He had been stuffed in a star ship and ejected into space until he was mature enough to be trained or sent to a battlefield, as it should be. In a way, he guessed things had not went right. Indeed, not right at all.

Meta Knight smiled as he pictured the face Arthur would have made, knowing that Kirby had landed on such a peaceful world and had lived such a peaceful, carefree experience. Indeed, he would have been positively mortified. Yet, for all of Kirby's laziness, he had ended Nightmare's reign, destroyed him where all of those work junkies back in the galactic army had failed. It was hilarous, really.

He remembered the way Kirby had played with all those kids... and the way he had... just... sat there... and... watched... and...

"I'm an adult." he said to the blue puffball. The puffball's voice annoyed him. Why did it sound so sad? Was he... lonely? "Of course I'm lonely! All my fellow Star Warriors died in that dumb, ill-fated war!"

But for some reason, he couldn't shake the images that came to him. All those kids, playing with Kirby, throwing a ball, or just running, playing hide-and-seek, or sometimes doing crazier things, or just going through places. Such a carefree experience. He remembered how he'd get out, during duty, when Dedede wasn't paying attention, which was all the time, and would come over and... sit... and watch...

Yeah, because they needed his protection. It was his duty to watch over them. After all, Kirby is a Star Warrior infant without much training. It was his duty to train him, which he did.

Now that he thought about it... he didn't train Kirby that much. And it was during his free time, mostly. It was not to alert Dedede. Of course, he sat there for hours on end, just watching when he was supposed to be on duty. And...

The blue puffball was once again giving him one of those looks. Did he really expect him to ask them if he could join them, to play with them? Oh sure, that would have went well. The big, serious, mysterious knight Star Warrior in heavy armor and mask, asking a bunch of kids if he could play with them. He would have been laughed out. As if anyone would want to play with him...

No, it's better if he just sit there. It's... boring at the castle. He don't like it there. He already knew basically every move that Dedede made, why should he stay at the castle more? And it wasn't as if he was needed at the town either, what with the Cappies doing on their own very well. So he just... sat there... looked at them play...

For a moment, Meta Knight wondered what the blue puffball would have looked like, without a mask, playing with Kirby and the other children. For a moment, he pictured the way he would have run around. A bit clumsy at first, like Kirby, unsure what to do but willing to try. He pictured the blue one with that wide, happy smile on his face like the pink one. Maybe he'd trip once and then they'd all laugh, and he would laugh too because it was all in good fun. Then he'd throw the ball back, or continue searching, or... maybe... they'd keep playing and then he wouldn't have to be alone anymore...

"I'm a grown-up..." the more the knight made this point to the blue puffball, the less convincing it sounded. Really, what was the worst that could have happened?

He then sighed. "... and anyway, I'm a Demon Beast. They would never accept me..."

The blue puffball didn't seem so sure anymore. A fool's hope. "It doesn't mean anything. Yeah, Fumu, and all those others said they didn't care but..."

The door opened. It shouldn't have opened. The blue puffball's eyes widened in pure shock as he realized the knight didn't have his mask, or armor, and that the room was a mess.

He spun to see the door open, saw Fumu walk in. She noticed the look of pure, undiluted shock on his face, the way his limbs were raised as his eyes widened, the way his mouth had that circle-shaped shape as Meta Knight, for some reason without armor and without a mask, stood before her like some kid caught with its hand in the cookie jar.

"Meta... Knight?" she had entered the room, wanting to ask something, thinking it was okay to walk in since it was unlocked. Finding the blue puffball with none of his equipment on was not what she had expected.

It was also then that her eyes scanned the mess that was his room. She recognized the spray paint cans. She had given them to the knight as a gift on his birthday. It had been a silly gift in retrospective but as the masked knight had read every book she knew of already, it was the best she had been able to come up with. Besides, it had been partly Bun's idea so she blamed him for it.

At first, she didn't make the connection about why the spray paint cans were on the floor but as the shock of seeing Meta Knight not in his armor of his own free will faded, she noticed that those weren't any cans, those were the yellow and orange ones. In fact, she recognized the shade of yellow as the same one that Mety had.

Her eyes trailed off to notice his bath full of water... a yellow water that looked almost oily, as if someone had spilled yellow paint into it. Then her eyes trailed back to the knight, to his childish expression of shock and embarassment... and her mind finally came to the obvious conclusion.

"So... it was really you?"

"It-it's not what you think!" was his panicky response. He looked around in blind panic, desesperately thinking of any way to save himself. Maybe if he scrambled to hide the cans, he'd preserve his identity?

But he instantly felt silly. This wouldn't work of course. He was caught and now, she would hate him. His expression melted into a sad one as he let himself fall down, sitting on the floor as he awaited the inevitable.

The young girl closed the door behind her and walked to the center of the room. She looked to the knight for a moment...

"So..." she was really not sure what to say... "You really have the same abilities as Kirby did."

That was not what he had expected. The knight's sad expression vanished, confusion filling his eyes as he looked up to the girl. "What?"

"I mean, we all suspected it because of how you looked underneath the mask and how you didn't show up for some reason during the attack but well, we still had our doubts."

There was... no anger in her voice? No scolding coming his way? No accusations about his nature or what he had done? In fact, she even smiled a bit?

"I guess it kind of explain how you knew of Kirby's abilities and all..."

"You mean... you don't hate me?" this time, her smile did vanish. She placed her hands on her sides and gave him a look as if he was some kind of idiot.

"Okay, can you drop it? I know you're the same age as Kirby, which means you're technically not that much older and what not but we already told you back in that clearing. We don't care. I mean... you kind of don't help your case if you throw a fit every time you're revealed."

That was not the rant he had been expecting either. And... err... well... she do have a point, he guessed. They did say they didn't care back in the woods. At that moment, her anger died down although she kept her serious expression. Then, she carried on, her tone neutral again.

"Look, I'm not going to ask why you did it. I mean... before you used your Copy Ability, there was nothing anyone of us could do about that huge monstrosity. Likewise, I think I get why you painted yourself and pretended to be some newcomer. Mostly, I just wanted to be sure and well... in a way, I guess I'm glad you helped us get rid of it."

"Well... it's my duty..." it was crazy how silly and half-hearted that line sounded without his mask. It made Fumu smile. The way he just looked away and looked embarassed like this was, in a way, adorable. Yet, it also felt weird that he'd feel so embarassed about it.

And well, she was out of things to say. She wanted to confirm her suspicions and now that they had been confirmed, all she had to do was sit on a nearby chair and wonder. On one hand, she could always leave and tell the others but for some reason, curiosity came to her about a few things...

"Say... why did you never use your Copy Ability until now? Could have helped in a lot of situations, you know. And not just when you fought the Ice Dragon that other day."

At this moment, Meta Knight brought himself to his feet and took on a heroic, knightly stance, fist pumped, eyes determined. Unfortunately, as he looked like a blue version of Kirby, Fumu found this unbearable adorable rather than cool. The blue puffball didn't seem to notice though.

"I am a Star Warrior, a great, noble knight trained by Arthur! I have denied my corrupt origins to embrace the ways of the sword, relying upon my own skills rather than on the power of others!"

That speech would probably sound a lot more epic if the voice that had just said it wasn't barely a tiny bit lower-pitched than Kirby's. And Fumu didn't need a degree in psychology to guess what it really meant either. "So in short, just as you're ashamed of your face, you think using your powers would have made you instantly evil."

The knight gave an annoyed look to the girl, a rather stereotypical one eyebrow raised kind of expression that, like most things about puffballs, looked kind of silly.

"I think that Kirby using that same power should have kinda made you realize it's no big deal. You did use the power against the Ice Dragon and last I know, you're not suddenly possessed by bad guys."

The blue puffball thought that she made a point. Kirby had always used this power and he had even prevailed against evil with it. What was so wrong about using such a power? But the knight rebutted this thought with the simple fact that Kirby lacked training and should have relied on the sword, like any good Star Warrior, rather than steal his way to victory. Likewise, the fact that the power of copying abilities was not evil didn't justify any more the use of Demon Beast powers. But the blue puffball didn't seem to accept this rebuttal and pointed out that Kirby still killed Nightmare and Arthur didn't. Then, there is the fact that using a Fire Ability, he repelled evil. His sword mostly just bounced off Ice Dragon's hide.

"Oh and I wanted to know... You know, those wings of yours? Since you're just like Kirby right down to the powers, what about the wings?"

Meta Knight was starting to feel increasingly embarassed. How many more questions will she ask, especially dumb questions like these? "It's a wing-cape. Allow one to fly."

"But I saw you can inhale just like Kirby, right? Why not puffing yourself up like Kirby did?" she asked. But then, she noticed his expression and guessed why. "Oh yeah. Part of that whole denial thing."

The fact that he seemed to be shaking with embarassment and frustration only confirmed her thoughts. "Could you keep this between us?"

"Can you just drop it already? I already told you that we're not going to tell anyone! Stop being so childish!" that last one definitely had an effect.

"Am not!"

"Then start acting like a grown-up! I swear..." That was ridiculous. She swore that he just lost IQ points and regressed back to his real age every time he was without his mask. Was the knight really this childish all along underneath that mask?

Before he could add a word, Fumu had got up and walked out of the room, leaving him alone with his thoughts once more. That... could have went better. Much better...

He looked to that blue puffball in the mirror and felt incredible annoyance grip his heart. "That's your fault!" he snarled at the puffball.

"You're the one who constantly throw tantrums about it!" thrown back the kid.

"Demon Beast!" snapped back the knight.

"You're an immature kid in denial pretending to be a knight, waving a sword like an idiot because he thinks it makes him look cooler and older than he really is!" The blue puffball obviously didn't want to be bossed around anymore.

"Monster! Abomination! Spawn of Nightmare!" The knight was definitely not going to let the puffball have the last laugh.

"Really? Who let him nab all of his friends? Oh yeah, that's true. You." That was a low blow. The knight flinched.

"You... you didn't save them either!"

The blue puffball shrugged. "Hey, I'd love to have tried... if you'd just. LET! ME! TRY!"

"Let you try? We're the same person! I'm talking to myself! I'm arguing with myself just now!"

Meta Knight froze. He had been blaming and yelling at his own reflection the whole time.

* * *

><p>"This is... truly regrettable."<p>

"That's a freakin' understatement! Some yellow Kirby thing destroyed your so-called invincible Demon Beast! I want a refund!"

Usually, Dedede appreciated the oily, gentleman-ish tone of voice that the dark, visor-wearing figure had on the screen. But this time, the absolute calmness of the figure was angering him. How could it be so calm and casual when its Ice Dragon thing had proven a scam?

"This was effectively not as predicted. Ice Dragon is a high-quality product and unless exposed to fire, should not break down. Yet you are filing a complaint that it was destroyed by a yellow-colored entity similar to how the Kirby creature had been. Now, we must know in order to make sure your complaint is well understood and our response appropriate... did that yellow pest of yours used fire powers?"

"Yeah it did! It inhaled a bloody torch and spat fire at it! Where's my refund!"

Standing near the walls was Dedede's various minions, including Waddle Doo, the captain of the guards. His lone eye was locked upon Escargoon's frame, who stood by his kind's side, strangely silent. Usually, the old advisor was quite chatty, echoing his king at every opportunity in an almost slavishly manner. But today, he was kind of... strange. He was much more serious than usual and strangely quiet.

Marx either didn't notice or paid no attention, bouncing uselessly by the penguin monarch's other side as if there was nothing strange.

"Hmmm... fascinating. Well, if this is the case, then we will offer to you a new Demon Beast at half-price. We cannot offer you a full refund for Ice Dragon did perform... adequately... despite its demise and fell to a known weakness."

There was grumbling from the king but before he could spoke up, Escargoon decided to finally talk. "Seems like a pretty good offer to me. Still, what's the guarantee that your new Demon Beast won't fail as badly?"

"We are glad you asked." said the dark figure. At that moment, the image of the figure was replaced by what seemed to be the images of two Demon Beasts. One looked like some kind of dog head with feet, with its ears doubling as arms somehow while the other was some kind of strange tiny robot with a single, large, monocle-like eye and a lone, long, bony arm. Both looked quite ridiculous and both their appearances and the numbers on the screen seemed to indicate Demon Beasts significantly smaller than Ice Dragon had been. "Those are Box Boxer and Trollbot. According to the data recorded from Ice Dragon's fight, those two products, when fighting as a pair, should be more than adequate to terminate your new pest..."

Dedede watched the images, scratching his chin slowly. Two of them, and tiny ones at that? It wasn't very convincing to him. "Can't say I'm impressed. Ice Dragon was huge and yet that darn yellow thing still beat it. You sure those two pipsqueaks can do the job?"

"Ice Dragon was physically impressive but was primarily designed as a terror weapon, not as a practical combat unit. Those two Demon Beasts are specialized combat units with special abilities that, when combined, make them the perfect counter to the creature who eliminated Ice Dragon. We assure you that there will be no failures this time."

The dark figure sure seemed convinced of what he was saying, that was for sure. But still, the king hesitated. Escargoon noticed this and spoke up.

"And what could those abilities be? Ice Dragon had nitrogen breath that could freeze an entire building. What can those two do that Ice Dragon couldn't?"

"We are glad you asked." replied the dark figure, nodding slowly. "Box Boxer is a dedicated combat unit specialized in melee combat. It is capable of immensely quick movement and its physical attacks are precise, crushing, and devastating. Trollbot is a special unit with the unique ability of stealing abilities and weapons from its foes through the use of an analyzer beam. According to our data, your new pest fight in a style not unlike the late Kirby, copying powers and then applying them. Yet, like Kirby, it also seem to be quite defenseless without any powers. Trollbot will deny this new foe the use of any copy ability and then Box Boxer will use its own physical power to overwhelm it. Thanks to Box Boxer's speed and aggressive behaviour, your little pest will not be able to escape."

Dedede listened and well, it sure made a lot of sense. That stupid yellow thing did use a Copy Ability to kill Ice Dragon and if it was anything like Kirby was, it should be pretty harmless without any ability applied. Sure, there was the danger of inhaling but most Demon Beasts tended to be resistant or just immune to that. So having a really strong Demon Beast supported by another who would deny the puffball its powers was a pretty smart strategy actually. The king smiled...

"Bought!"

"We are glad for your continued business with the Dark Matter Collective, great and noble king. We look forward to making further business with you."

Marx smirked internally. Box Boxers were among one of the deadlier creations of the Dark Matter Collective. With Trollbot supporting one, that yellow puffball would soon cease to be a factor in his plans and then, things will be right back on track as it should be.

* * *

><p>Meta Knight had approached the throne room, hoping to eavesdrop on Dedede's latest plan. To be fair, he was quite bothered to have to do this at all. In the past, the penguin had always proudly announced his plans on Channel DDD, elaborating in such a way that eavesdropping was almost unneeded. However, ever since Marx had first shown up and then returned, things had become more complicated. Dedede had become more secretive, no longer announcing his plans. Obviously, Marx was having an influence on him and one that made things much harder for the knight...<p>

Still, he could always just eavesdrop. Of course, he had been awfully unlucky lately with this too. It seemed that Dedede would always contact whoever he bought Demon Beasts from when he, his knaves, Fumu, and even her brother was unable to get to the throne room. Now that the knight thought about it, Marx had spent the first week of his stay in Dreamland getting to know him and the others, learning of their schedules...

Meta Knight got to the conclusion he should have, months earlier. Marx knew their schedules, he knew they used to use Channel DDD to get information. He had used the information he knew about them to deliberately sabotage their intelligence, eliminating the warnings they used to have back when they were fighting Nightmare.

Once more, Meta Knight was reminded of how worthy an opponent Marx was. For all of his appearance, he was a clever, skillful opponent and one that needed to be taken care of. But... how? He was the king's jester, enjoyed public protection and he is beloved of the population, only his crew knowing his secret. Sure, everyone had believed them back when Marx had just killed Kirby but months of absence and then seeing him return and be just as nice as ever on top of Dedede's constant gloating, had caused the Cappies to shift the blame to Dedede.

It had all been carefully, intelligently planned...

In a way, he realize upon those thoughts, he should have predicted that upon eavesdropping into the throne room, he would find Marx just telling jokes to the king. Marx knew his schedule. Of course he wouldn't be having Dedede buy Demon Beasts while people could catch them red-handed.

"Sir Meta Knight, what are you doing?"

The masked knight was startled and felt his feet leave the floor for a moment as he spun only to see a familiar snail looking at him with an expression of disapproval on his face. It was just Escargoon.

"Oh, you surprised me. Is there anything I can do for you?" he asked, wrapping his cape around his frame.

The expression did not fade off the snail. In fact, his eyes narrowed. "I just wonder why one of our majesty's own knights would peek through the door when he is supposed to be on duty. What the king does is his own business. If he wishes to share information with you, then he shall summon you to the throne room, am I clear?"

"Yes, of course." Meta Knight had expected to be rebutted a bit but he had not expected that vicious tongue lashing from the old advisor.

He did not expect either the advisor to just go back into the throne room right after that, not even bothering to ask the knight to explain himself or leaving him an opportunity to speak. That was a bit surprising but then, Escargoon had always been a bit of an arrogant nag and he guessed it was mostly in-character... although he was still wondering as to how Escargoon, of all people, had been able to sneak up on him.

Oh well, he is wasting his time here, Meta Knight moved on, soon leaving the hall...

Escargoon, him, went to the king's side and waited patiently for the jester to finish his latest streak of jokes. Then, as he finished and took his place near the king as well, the advisor silently approached the jester and whispered into Marx's ear.

As the advisor finished, both him and the jester were grinning evilly from ear to ear.

* * *

><p>A brand new day came to Dreamland, bringing with it the sun as usual. Bright and cheery is the day, with the Cappies all busy doing their things while Meta Knight sits on the railguard of the balcony, staring at the city below. Oh sure, it was rather irresponsible sitting on a railguard but it wasn't as bad as standing on it, something he had done many times before without falling off, and well... he's a grown-up. He does whatever he wants to, isn't it? He doesn't have to listen to any self-important adults not that there's a lot of them around anyway, what not with Dedede's and Escargoon's cumulative IQ being in the double digits.<p>

Still, as he sat there, his gaze wandered lazily over Cappy Town, knowing Fumu and Bun to be down there with their parents. Blade and Sword were somewhere in the castle, patrolling the fortress diligently. No one would ever wonder where the knight was and as usual, they'd probably rationalize that he went to the balcony to think or watch the kingdom instead of the real reason, which was goofing off because patrolling the castle halls is boring and nothing ever happens in the castle anyway.

In a way, the fact that the masked knight was not really paying attention and soaking up sunrays more than anything else probably contributed to why it took him so long to notice that something was wrong.

The Cappies were very hard workers. The vegetable stands that had been destroyed by Ice Dragon had been repaired and thanks to the yellow puffball that had shown up, they had taken it upon themselves to melt down the thick ice walls that covered various houses through the town. It was a hard task and it would take many more days to repair the town completely but after months of tenacious NME attacks, this kind of collateral damage from the mysterious puffball's battle with Ice Dragon was a mundane thing to deal with.

The fact that most of the people were busy repairing stuff also explained why Fumu and her brother were the only ones to notice the strange sight that was among them all. Some kind of tiny robot, not much larger than Kirby had been, on two feet with no arms and a weird, single eye behind a monocle. The machine seemed to have a permanent smirk fused to its frame, making it seem somehow obnoxious and annoying without even doing anything.

The small family, noticing that their daughter had frozen in place, stopped to watch her. Bun passed a hand through his hair to remove the strands permanently covering his eyes, taking a better look at his sister's expression. It was that kind of weird expression that she always had before trouble came home and it made the boy confused because he had not noticed anything overly abnormal in the town.

"Is something wrong my dear?" asked Fumu's mother, also getting bad vibes from it all.

Fumu blinked. The machine was gone? Where did it go? "There was... no, must have been my imagination..."

The two adults stared at each others and then took note of nearby covers, just in case. It could have indeed been their daughter's imagination but the problems with Ice Dragon had shown that Dedede had somehow become able to summon monsters again so it was better safe than sorry.

As the small group resumed their march forward, Fumu's mind begun to wander away from the strange machine. But just as she begun to think that things are alright, a voice caught their attention.

"Noooo! Don't do that! Please!"

A Cappy was staring in abject horror as the same machine that Fumu had seen before was now standing on top of a newly rebuolt vegetable stand. It was standing in front of a massive pile of raisins and its left side had opened up, revealing a long, bony robotic arm ending with a large mallet. As the Cappy begged it not to do something, it responded by letting out the most annoying mocking laughter that Fumu had ever heard and then slammed the mallet into the raisin pile.

The young girl covered her eyes as the impact squashed the raisins, sending raisin juice flying absolutely everywhere and covering every person nearby in a thick purple fruity ooze. It was disgusting, covering all of her hair!

"U MAD?" went the machine.

"YES! I told you not to do that!"

The Cappy's reply only seemed to encourage the robot as it burst into mocking laughter, the mallet transforming into a giant hand that pointed at the Cappy. Several giant neon arrow signs emerged from its back, all pointing at the Cappy, all with the word 'loser' writen on it.

"Why you horrible little-!"

But the machine's signs and arm had already retracted and it leaped off of its stand before noticing a bunch of children nearby, trying to clean themselves from the raisin juice rain. But the robot's attention was not at the children proper... but rather, at the balloons they were carrying.

It ran up to them and again, the robotic arm emerged. This time, it ended with a long, sharp needle and then, it jammed the needle into the nearest balloon. It popped loudly, startling everyone.

There was stunned silence as the child looked at its popped balloon and then at the robot, its smirk just as wide as before. Its single, monocle-covered eye glittered with malice...

"U MAD?"

The child begun to cry loudly. The robot burst into cackling laughter, once again making huge signs with 'loser' writen on it all point at the child. This caused it to cry even louder, causing the machine to laugh even louder in turn.

"You horrible little bully!" went one of the other children.

The robot responded by popping all of their balloons as well in quick succession, startling everyone with the loud noises again.

"U MAD?" it went on, its voice deafening and endlessly annoying.

Half of the children burst into tears and again, the massive signs and the pointing hand were shown while it laughed horribly. The oldest of the children had enough of it and pounced, trying to grab the evil machine. But the robot flawlessly dodged, leaping into the air before slamming its shoe-like feet straight into the child's head.

"U MAD U MAD U MAD! LOSERS! LOOOOOOOSERS!" it mocked, laughing with its mouth wide open, a massive purple tongue flapping out of it like an oversized tentacle-like dog tongue.

"Alright you horrible machine! You'll stop that this instant or else!" Fumu had enough of that machine and its petty, offensive tricks. She stepped forward, catching the robot's attention.

Its single eye's gaze bored through the girl. It seemed like it knew her somehow and its previously mindlessly mocking smirk turned into a much more vicious one, its single eye narrowing as the robot somehow seemed to get serious for a moment.

But then, its previous expression quickly returned and it thrown its usual taunt at the girl. "U MAD?"

"Are you capable of saying anything else? Why are you doing this?" she wouldn't play along with that robot's obviously childish, stupid games.

But unfortunately, the robot just cackled on and on. "U MAD! LOSER! LOOOOOOSER! RETARDED STUPID LOOOOOSER!"

At this moment, the robot's robotic arm emerged, this time ending with what seemed to be a plastic flower and before she knew it, Fumu found herself sprayed with water, a large torrent pushing her back. She could not help but walk backward slowly, shielding her eyes the best she could, gritting her teeth as she felt the water push her back more and more.

"LEAVE MY SISTER ALONE!" yelled Bun, not willing to let that thing bully his sister.

"U MAD?" it went, repeating the same taunt it had been throwing ever since it had shown up.

"Just you wait, you mean thing! We won't let you boss us around like that!"

The robot just cackled and pointed its water-shooting flower at Bun. Completely unprepared for this turn of events, Fumu's brother had only the time to frown in a mix of confusion and realization at what he was about to experience before the torrent of water struck him. Unlike his sister, the water jet thrown him off his feet and sent him flying a bit back.

"BUN!" his parents ran to his side, worry on their face.

Fumu, her, had got back on her feet and glared at the machine as it burst into yet more of that infinitely aggravating laughter. She was now convinced that this was a Demon Beast. No way a normal person could be this vindicative like that. For a moment, she found herself wishing for help as she realized that for all of its puny size, there was no way she could catch the robot if it could spray her with such strong jets of water whenever she tried to grab it.

Meta Knight. She have to get him here! He might know what to do!

"Hey! You will stop that this instant you meanie or else!" everyone turned to face the source of the voice as they recognized it.

"It's Mety!"

"He's come to teach that thing a lesson!"

"Go get it, Mety!"

It was the same yellow puffball from the other day, glaring at the evil robot. The robot turned to face its newest victim and paused as the sight he got matched with a description in his inner database. Trollbot's blank mocking expression turned vicious once more as he identified his target. The lure had worked perfectly and now the trap was ready to be sprung. He had walked right in just as master Marx had predicted.

"LOSER!" it went, the robotic arm transforming so it ended with a giant pointing finger, allowing the robotic Demon Beast to point and mock the puffball, giant neon signs also pointing at him.

The mysterious warrior's eyes narrowed, an angry frown on his face as he heard the rather childish taunt. But as childish as it was, it just got on his nerves, making him feel like strangling the thing.

"LOSER LOSER LOSER!" it parroted on and on, making a stupid-looking dance on the spot, the signs beginning to flash different colors, the robot pointing at Mety insistently.

This was an affront to his honor and to good taste. What kind of Demon Beast was that? Who would create such a Demon Beast? Why deploy it? This made no sense! Why send a Demon Beast like that when one like Ice Dragon had been previously defeated? Sure, it was annoying but it didn't look quite nearly as dangerous to say the least.

Noticing that the yellow puffball was just standing still, trying to look heroic, Trollbot shifted his gaze to Fumu and her family. The shift was deliberately slow and obvious so that Mety would see it and the effect was just as the robotic Demon Beast had hoped, the puffball's expression hardening.

"Don't. Even. Think. About it." the young warrior's voice became deathly cold, glaring daggers at the robot.

The torrent of water came again. This time, it caught both of Fumu and Bun and sent them off their feet, knocking them into their parents and knocking all of them to the ground. Then, it turned to the yellow puffball, a very wide, sadistic grin on its face.

"U mad?" somehow, it voice was quieter, more threatening, as if daring the mysterious warrior.

And this indeed did it. The puffball kicked into the ground, sending himself forward in a mad dash. He then leaped, paws above its frame as it went to catch the infernal machine, an expression of obvious anger on its young face. Trollbot's eye narrowed and he kicked into the ground too, dodging at the very last second, the puffball's paws almost closing on one of its feet.

But it was to no avail and the puffball found itself having a face-first encounter with the ground. The young warrior got back on his feet but was surprised to hear a strange sound, like a thumping sound being repeated... or maybe like heavy footsteps?

He blinked and turned to face the source of the noi-

KLOPS! BOOM!

A massive, brown fist slammed into the yellow puffball's stomach with the speed of a crazy runaway freight train and with about as much strength too. The impact knocked the air right out of Mety's lungs, his eyes bulging out as his entire body was paralyzed by sudden, agonizing pain, the crushing impact sending him flying. His flight was short-lived as a nearby building wall stopped him dead in his tracks, the hard bricks viciously racking into his back as the air was knocked out of him a second time, the impact hard enough to crack the wall dangerously.

Slumping to the ground, the yellow puffball pushed with one paw, bringing himself back on his feet despite the pain. Whatever had hit him, it had been incredibly strong and incredibly fast. He had also not seen it coming.

It was then that he saw what seemed to be some kind of big dog head on feet, with its long ears somehow doubling as arms, its eyes dopey and unaware-looking. The thing was cracking its fingers and the robot from before was standing at its side, its previously mocking expression gone and now replaced with a perfectly serious vicious grin.

A trap. He had walked right into a trap.

The yellow puffball steeled his nerves and took on a combat pose, staring fearlessly at his opponents...

"Aaaaw look at the wee cute 'lil baby playing hero! U mad, 'lil baby? Did I make u sad? Har har har!" the taunt was so obvious, so childish and yet, it got on the yellow puffball's nerves far more than he would have liked. He may look like some kid but he isn't one! And to be insulted like this... it kind of... it was really tacky.

Nevertheless, justice demanded to be served. Mety let out a breath as he prepared himself, emptying his mind, and then he opened his mouth wide. The massive gust of wind that came as he inhaled was truly something, easily equaling some of those massive winds that Kirby would cause whenever he inhaled. Unfortunately, it seemed that both Trollbot and Box Boxer had seen it coming and as the mysterious warrior begun to inhale, the evil robot's mechanical arm turned into a metal rod and slammed into the ground.

Mety inhaled more and more, sucking an impressive amount of air but despite his body filling up more and more, Trollbot held his ground, his body kept in place by the metal rod. Box Boxer, him, slowly slid toward the yellow puffball, his impressive weight making it so that his advance was slow. There was no panic on the dog-like Demon Beast's face, no alarm as he slid closer and closer...

The young warrior had hoped to inhale Trollbot but he guessed that inhaling that big dog-like thing would do. For a moment, he wondered how he'd be able to swallow something that much larger than him. He also found himself feeling a bit faint, having inhaled so much to little effect, making him a little dizzy from inhaling so much air without letting any out.

Of course, all of those thoughts were interrupted by a single sound.

KLOPS! CRASH!

Well, two sounds actually. For some reason, the impact as the yellow puffball found itself with a faceful of fist from Box Boxer didn't hurt nearly as much as the first, surprise attack had. On another hand, it probably was because the attack, smashing straight between the young warrior's eyes, almost knocked him out instantly.

The wall did give away this time as he slammed into it, broken bricks crashing all around the puffball, the mysterious yellow child finding himself inside of a very startled and scared Cappy's living room for a moment. Or he guessed it was one for the world spun so quickly and there were so many stars filling his vision that he truly couldn't tell. It wasn't as much as his body hurt that it was that he felt numb and insanely dizzy, having lost his bearings completely.

"MEt... M... ty... METY!"

Who yelled his name didn't matter. What did matter was that suddenly, he was sitting in a pile of broken bricks with his body hurting all over and a dog-like Demon Beast preparing to punch him straight in the face again. There was no time for a graceful, well-executed dodge or anything fancy, the yellow puffball just yipped in the most undignified, childish way as he clumsily leaped out of the brick pile, avoiding the punch by a hair.

Box Boxer didn't blink, he didn't even show a sign of being surprised or startled at his attack missing and flawlessly chained his jab with a hook from his other arm, catching Mety in mid-air and sending him flying behind him.

The yellow puffball bounced a bit back on the ground outside, everyone gasping in horror as his small cries of pain from being thrown around as a ragdoll echoed. Things were definitely not going well for their mysterious Kirby lookalike new defender.

Fumu had seen more than enough to know that Meta Knight needed help. She knew that Kirby would try to inhale the enemy's attacks but it seemed that this combination of Demon Beasts was not unleashing anything that could be inhaled. Trollbot had a system to protect itself from inhaling and was standing back, letting Box Boxer attack. She thought on possible things to inhale... and then her eyes wandered to some of the frozen buildings that had been covered in ice by Ice Dragon.

This wasn't natural ice and thus, Meta Knight would probably be able to inhale that to transform! After all, if he had been able to use the Fire Ability, then maybe he will also be able to use the Freeze and Ice Abilities! However, she was also aware that she couldn't quite do this on her own. Still, she would do something before things got ugly... well, uglier.

She turned to her brother. "We need to get ice from the frozen buildings to Mety! Try to get the crowd to gather some for him!"

He turned to her, a bit startled for a second but quickly understanding. There was no time to waste. As Bun waved his arms at the crowd to get their attention, Fumu ran from the scene, knowing that some of the chunks of ice broken from the buildings should be in a cart nearby...

"Who do you think you are, baaaaaby?"

The yellow puffball was trying to stop listening to that robotic Demon Beast but he just couldn't stand it. He knew that this was a dishonorable foe who thrown childish taunts that he should just ignore but for some reason, it just seemed to grate on him. He tried to remind himself to keep looking dignified... but for some reason, the fact that he was aware that he had paint on instead of a mask and had the most adorable and childish of faces at the moment just kind of foiled his attempts at self-discipline.

"S-shut up."

"Aaaaw! Is the baby upset? Some defender you are. Come on, put some muscle into it! We aren't even breaking a sweat here!"

Nope, those Demon Beasts got no honor, no honor at all. Not even a tiny speck. If only he had his sword! Why didn't he carry it with him?

At this moment, the yellow puffball's angry frown vanished and was replaced with the most adorable of blank confusion expressions, his tiny rounded frame tilting to one side. He even went "Po... yo?" which made some of the Cappies that had remained to watch the fight smile at the cute sight.

Of course, the very reason why the yellow child had this expression was that he had realized that he had forgotten to bring a Copy Ability to the fight and had just rushed to the scene as quickly as possible like an unexperienced rookie. Unfortunately, this realization did not fix the slight issue of him having no Copy Ability while facing a ferocious dog-like Demon Beast that had made no secrets of its intense desire to kill him.

"METY!" The yellow puffball's thoughts were interrupted by Fumu's voice. "CATCH!"

For a split second, the puffball wondered why she thrown an ice block at him. But it quickly dawned upon him that this was the very solution to his problem. Mouth opening wide, the mysterious warrior inhaled deeply...

In moments, as he swallowed the unnatural ice block, Mety felt his entire body coursing with power. A cold current went through his entire body, the air freezing above him as massive ice shards begun to appear, forming the blue tiara-like hat that characterized the Freeze Ability. The yellow warrior smiled as he felt the power, knowing it was now time to defeat those Demon Beasts.

"How cute! You think you look cool with that on, don't you?"

This time, it was time to make Trollbot eat his words. He turned to face him, seeing Box Boxer at his side, cracking his knuckles. Let's see how they deal with sub-zero brreath!

But just as Mety was gathered the necessary power and prepared to let out his freezing breath, Trollbot's monocle-covered eye flashed in a blinding light. A massive cone of light errupted from it at blinding speeds and covered the yellow puffball's entire frame. In an instant, images of crosshairs swarmed the young warrior and text appeared in mid-air all inside of the strange cone of light. Then, before he could even react to this turn of events, the yellow puffball felt his strength fading as large spheres of white energy were torn out of his body and absorbed into Trollbot's eye.

Mety stood before his enemies, his hat gone... as well as all of his Copy Ability's power. Trollbot had just stolen his Copy Ability. The yellow puffball blinked a few times, slowly looking at his paws as realization begun to enter his mind. His mouth slowly opened and widened...

"Nyahahaha! U MAD?"

Mety's eyes narrowed in a mix of frustration and anger. He had heard that taunt one time too many. "That's... THAT'S NOT FAIR! Give it back!"

It was a very childish thing to say and absolutely undignified but at this point, the yellow puffball no longer cared. That had been a low blow and he wanted that Copy Ability back! But Trollbot just stuck his tongue at him, his mechanical arm forming the pointing finger once again.

"How about NO? Har har har! Don't worry! Box Boxer will give you a faceful of fist as compensation!"

Well, that was definitely not going well. Box Boxer suddenly took on a sprint, dragging its body at a frighteningly quick pace, far faster than walking dog heads should possibly be able to. It barely took a second for the distance between Mety and Box Boxer to be reduced to nothing, far too little time for the child warrior to prepare a proper dodge. But instead of yet another of those painful punches, the dog-like Demon Beast grabbed into the yellow infant. And at this moment, as Mety realized that Box Boxer was staring at him menacingly despite the apparently blank expression, he knew that this was going to hurt. A lot.

Suddenly, the world spun out of control and he found himself in a state of weightlessness for some reason. Everything spun so fast as to be a blur and the yellow puffball could not help but notice the lack of feeling in his feet indicating that he was not touching anything and was flying through the air. This could only mean that he had been thrown and yet, he did not see any approaching wall and the ground was getting farther from him.

SNAP!

The stop was sudden and brutal. Mety's eyes bulged out of their orbits, his entire body paralyzed. The yellow puffball was right above the dog-like Demon Beast, Box Boxer's paws brought back together in a slapping motion, the child warrior squeezed to an unnatural shape. The sheer shock was so great that the pain didn't even shake him, his entire body completely and utterly numbed. His entire mind was frozen as he felt his insides twisted far beyond any intended level. At this moment, although he didn't know their names, Mety sure knew the location of every single organ in his body for basically nearly every one of them had been ruptured, crushed. His body felt slightly heavy and a strange wetness covered his lips as a thin stream of blood oozed out.

There was silence, complete silence. There was no sound as the yellow child was dropped to the ground, no scream. He didn't even react. Mety's eyes remained bulged from the sheer immensity of the damage to his body, tears blurring his vision.

Box Boxer didn't even bother waiting for the warrior to get up. He grabbed into his right foot and then, with a vicious, swift gesture, thrown him straight into the nearest wall. The deafening impact had a sickening, squishy feel to it that indicated that the damage that was starting to accumulate was reaching dangerous levels on the puffball's tiny body.

His entire world consisted of pain and lots of spinning. His feet just wouldn't stop trembling and he had to bring a paw to the side of his body to stop the world from circling around him. His eyes refocused and he felt himself so weak, so exhausted. No, no... that was not the time. It just wasn't. He shook his head and tried to get ahold of himself. His stomach was hurting... his entire body was hurting and as he brought a paw to his mouth and then looked to blood that soaked it, he could not help but wonder just how much damage those Demon Beasts had inflicted.

No... no... it didn't matter. The damage doesn't matter. He experienced worse.

He felt naked, weak, exposed. The air blew through his body and he missed the comforting feeling of metal against his body. He missed the feeling of protection his mask gave him, even if illusionary. He didn't care if he didn't need the armor, if it truly hindered it. He... he just...

No! He is a Star Warrior! If Kirby, an infant, could stand against Nightmare, then he must stand his ground too! Besides, he's a grown-up same age or not! He must take responsability! He must defeat those evil people and save Dreamland!

Noticing the look of determination on their opponent, Trollbot smirked while Box Boxer wiped the tiny blots of the yellow puffball's blood that was on his fists in a dismissive manner.

"Still feeling pissy, baaaby? You want some more? Then come and get it!"

"Mety! Inhale this!" that was Bun, having returned with many of the Cappies. The mysterious puffball could not help but notice that they were carrying a large electrical drill with the head removed connected to a bunch of batteries. Getting this stuff together must have been hard and for a moment, the yellow puffball found himself touched that they would help him like this.

... but then, didn't they help Kirby like this too? They may not be able to do that much but they sure had heart. They always had much heart in the face of the odds. It made the yellow warrior smile and forget his pain.

Three of the Cappies held into the machine and then thrown it. Mety did not hesitate. He opened his mouth wide and inhaled. The contraption did its work as it entered the yellow puffball's body. With the electrical power that coursed its circuits, the Copy Power registered the feel of electricity that was transmitted through the child warrior's body as he swallowed. This resulted in great tendrils of electricity being shot from the top of his body, solidifying into the shape of the hat characteristic of the Spark Ability.

Mety spun to face his foes, finding new strength in this turn of events. He would not fail them.

"Pah! Your pathetic copying skills won't help you!" went Trollbot.

It was just so unfair. He didn't even have time to dodge or even prepare himself. He didn't even have time to think or blink. In an instant, the same cone of light had emerged from Trollbot's lone monocle-covered eye and enveloped the young warrior. Again, he saw the blur of crosshairs and data text surround him and once again, his Copy Ability was torn right off his body and stolen by the robotic Demon Beast, leaving the puffball powerless once more.

Box Boxer moved, taking it as his cue. An uppercut silenced Mety's complaint before he even thought of wording it, the fist sending him flying, the air knocked right out of his lungs as well as a bit of blood. Mety's eyes bulged in renewed pain but before he could even realize he had been punched again, Box Boxer's fist flew like a rocket and sent the warrior child flying once again, bouncing painfully on the ground.

Mety once again brought himself back to his feet but the second he was up, Box Boxer was already towering above him, standing right in front of him. A double-fisted downward punch slammed the yellow infant straight back to the ground and was followed by a vicious kick right to the face, sending him flying further until he landed right at the feet of Fumu, on his back.

As the world stopped spinning so insistently around him, Mety realized that Fumu was looking right at him, an expression of obvious worry. He wanted to say something to make that expression away, anything. It just made him so sad suddenly. They were all helping him and he was failing them like he had always failed everyone he had ever known. He wanted to calm them, to tell them he was alright... but he couldn't...

"It... hurts..." he cried, unable to keep the tears flowing. The amount of punches and the way he had been crushed, slammed, and punted all over the place prevented him from saying anything else. He... he couldn't.

For Fumu and all of the Cappies, that was enough. Trollbot had proven his point already. With his power combined with Box Boxer's, there was no way Meta Knight could win. The moment Meta Knight tried to use any sort of ability, Trollbot stole it and without an ability, he was little more than a punching bag for Box Boxer. It was time to call it a day, to run away, to rethink it all. Just fighting further would just injure Meta Knight further.

"It's okay... you did your best. Save yourself." she whispered to him.

Save himself? He stared into her eyes and for a moment, wondered why she'd say such a thing. His eyes wandered and he saw the figures of all the Cappies, looking down at him, a mix of sadness and pity in their eyes. There was fear in their eyes... but fear for him, not fear from the Demon Beasts.

He thought of honor, of the cowardice of running from battle, from those who needed him. But he saw no fear of the evil ones in their eyes, only the wish for him to live. Maybe... maybe he could... retreat?

He would retreat. He can't fight those monsters. He's just as powerless now as he was when he tried to fight Ice Dragon with a sword. It's pointless. He can't protect anyone...

The yellow puffball got up again. Trollbot looked quite triumphant while Box Boxer seemed quite bored, cracking its knuckles again. He didn't care about those Demon Beasts anymore. He just wanted to get away from them, from them and their painful punches. Those punches... so powerful, so painful, so very painful. Pain in all of his body...

His eyes shifted to the road leading to the castle, in the distance. But somehow, the robot's eye followed his own gaze and a devilish smirk came to it.

Summoning all of his strength, the yellow puffball broke into a run. He ran with all of the speed that his little feet could muster, using all of his remaining will to get away from the scene. He had to get away, he had to retreat. It was dishonorable, it was cowardly. Arthur would scold him, Nightmare would laugh at him. His fellow Star Warriors would have pelted him with rocks, called him names. He's sure... even Kirby would have hated him for it. But he couldn't do anything. That was all he could do... all he could ever do. Run away while Demon Beasts beat him up and harmed those he cared about...

However, he realized that although he ran at full speed, he wasn't moving past the two Demon Beasts. For a moment, his sad frown disappeared as he looked to Box Boxer, whose paw was gripping him.

"Poy-?"

KLOPS!

"NO-AAAAARG!"

He didn't know what hurts more. The pain from the punch was absolutely nerve-wracking, pumping the air out of his lungs, rupturing further his already damaged organs, drawing blood which splattered out of his mouth. He just hadn't been able to contain it and screamed at the top of his lungs yet with the lack of air and the damage to his body, the act only hurt him further.

It didn't matter. He found himself lying on his side, clutching his stomach, his entire body convulsing...

"Oh no you aren't, kiddo!" Trollbot's expression suddenly darkened, all of his mocking joy vanishing. In his eye was only a hollow, burning rage and his smirk turned into a monstrous frown. "No one challenge our will and live to tell about it. Absolutely no one."

The difference was so sharp it startled the crowd. Trollbot's voice had turned into a cold, almost monotone snarl, only the taint of hatred giving it any sensation of life.

Mety had little time to reflect over such a difference however as he found himself with Box Boxer's paws grasping his frame. He knew what was coming and found himself with tears streaming down his cheeks. He didn't want this. He didn't want to feel it again.

But he found himself spinning as he was hurled straight up yet again and before he knew it, it came.

SNAP!

Something broke. Something really broke this time, something important. Time seemed to stop and for some reason, the pain seemed to be delayed. He just... let himself be still, eyes bulged out, squeezed unnaturally above Box Boxer's head. He couldn't hear anything, couldn't feel anything. And then, he realized that his heart had just skipped a beat.

"N-AAAAAAAAaaaAAAAAaaAAARG!"

Cappies flinched, some covered their eyes, others covered their ears. The sheer agony in the child's scream was such that they could almost feel it, the sickening crunch of that final attack so vivid it made them shiver. It was as if time had indeed been frozen...

And then, Box Boxer let go and the puffball fell to the ground, landing on his back.

Everything spun and already, darkness was covering his eyes. Mety felt so tired, so exhausted, and in such pain. Every single point of his body and inside of it was feeling like it had been squashed into a fine paste and from the blood that just refused to stop flowing from his mouth, he guessed it was an accurate description of his state. Yet even as his eyes fluttered, his mind struggling to stay awake, he found that although he couldn't feel most of his body anymore the pain was still atrocious.

It was so unfair. He didn't stand a chance and hadn't even landed a single blow. For all of his training, for all of his experience, for all of the time and distance he travelled... this was how it was going to end.

In a way, he guessed it was only natural. He had never been much of a Star Warrior anyway, always hiding behind Jecra and then, later, behind Kirby because he was too cowardly to die himself. He had always been running away for so long and now that he had tried to fight, he was dying.

Mety couldn't help but wonder if they had felt like this when the time had come. Body broken in every place, all of their nerves ablaze with pain, regret filling their minds. After failing to protect so many, he had been unable to save himself. It was kind of funny in a way...

... yet, he also guessed that it was right too. He had finally fought. He had finally stopped running away and had taken arms to fight the Demon Beasts himself. It was what he had sworn to do, what he had always been afraid of doing. He knew from the start that this was the fate he had been filtring with ever since he took up the sword. And in a way, he guessed it was the right thing too.

He died fighting, trying to defeat two Demon Beasts that had proven too much for him. At long last, he had stopped running away. It was a honorable death... yes, it was...

Everyone stood in shock. Fumu was utterly silent and mortified, her brother also watching in silence. "N... not you too..." she whispered.

He wasn't getting up. He wouldn't get up. A second puffball had risen to defend Dreamland in its hour of need... and Marx had killed it like he had killed the first. Tragedy once more struck formerly peaceful Dreamland.

Meta Knight had given up but somehow, the puffball found himself bothered. Dying a honorable death? Yeah right, he's absolutely terrified. He doesn't want to die, he doesn't want to! It's why he runs! He doesn't care about honorable death! Jecra didn't care either, he had a son to return to! None of them chose to die! That's just stuff Meta Knight tell himself to feel better!

But still, it was time to die. Darkness filled his eyes and at long last, that stupid agony he was going through gave away to an almost pleasant numbness, a hollow darkness that washed away all of that shame he had been carrying for who knows how many years.

"Har har har! U mad? U MAD?"

Trollbot. The puffball hated that name. Trollbot. It was the name of his killer. That mocking voice is the voice of the one who killed him. Trollbot... freakin' Trollbot.

"That's right! Be silent! Losers! Looooosers!"

Stupid Trollbot. What kind of name is that anyway? The puffball couldn't believe it. The name of his killer is Trollbot, seriously? That's who he's killed by? Some kind of stupid thing with a big stupid grin? That Demon Beast wear a monocle! A MONOCLE!

"Har har har HAR HAR HAR!"

It was perfectly childish but he didn't care. He's not going to be killed by someone with a name as stupid as Trollbot and who make taunts as dumb as those! He don't care about a honorable death or the shame or whatever! Yeah, it's a childish thought and Arthur would slap him but that's his death darn it! And it won't be because of someone called Trollbot!

"S... sh... up..."

Everyone turned to stare at the warrior child, including the two Demon Beasts. It blinked a few times, then figured it had been the wind. "Ha! Faked you out! LOSERS!"

"Shr... up!"

The evil robot stared at the child. It should be dead. There was no way a child, even a really tough one, could survive the type of trashing Box Boxer had just given it. So what was with the sounds?

"Ha! You are dead! Dead dead dead dea-"

The yellow puffball slowly got up. That was impossible as it was dead. But Trollbot still saw it get back on its feet, its eyes very much open and an expression of rage instead of the blank serenity of death visible on its face. That was also impossible but it was also something he saw.

"SHUUUUUUUT UUUUUUUUP!" the child roared.

Trollbot was not prepared when the warrior child inhaled. It was impossible, his database told him it was, all of his analysis told him it was. But his sensors detected his body getting off the ground, flying toward the infant's wide open mouth. It was totally impossible for him to be defeated so easily and in such a humiliating manner as being inhaled and swalloed by a stupid puffball. Yet, this was indeed what his systems registered before they shut down forever.

Box Boxer turned to see the yellow child, now wearing some kind of weird grey visor that was not unlike Trollbot's face in a way. The powerful melee Demon Beast correctly guessed that his companion had just been destroyed but did not care. As long as the target is eliminated, the Dark Matter Collective's purpose will be achieved.

But just as the dog-like Demon Beast prepared to unleash one of his fierce jabs to the puffball's face, he found himself encased in a massive cone of light. Crosshairs surrounded the Demon Beast as well as text as the power of the Copy Ability analyzed Box Boxer's power, stunning the Demon Beast. And in an instant, large sphere of energy were torn away from the dog-like entity, his life force halved.

The yellow puffball opened his mouth wide, the spheres flying into it and then, he flattened his body as he swallowed. In an instant, the Copy Ability gained from Trollbot was thrown out of his body in the form of a star and was replaced with a red bandanna indicating that Mety now had the Fighter Ability. The warrior child, despite his trembling body, took on a fighting stance, his eyes burning with determination.

"You're not killing me." his voice was weakened by the important blood loss but even despite this, Box Boxer noted the intensity in the target's voice. That... was bad. That kind of went against master Marx's predictions.

The flurry of blindingly fast jabs that made Box Boxer step back was also definitely against master Marx's predictions. Trollbot was supposed to stay alive and prevent the target from using his abilities! And even if Trollbot was destroyed, the target should have no access to Copy Abilities! How come things had gone wrong so quickly? One second the target was a second away from being a confirmed kill, the next he is destroying them!

The yellow puffball let out a war cry and leaped. Box Boxer gathered his power and brought his paws together before throwing his energy forward in the form of a large energy ball, intending to intercept the enemy. The fireball impacted the puffball but despite the flames that engulfed him, he seemed not to feel it and slammed his right foot straight into the side of Box Boxer's head.

That broke something, causing the dog-like Demon Beast to step back. Mety didn't let him recover, lashing out with a ferocity he never knew he had, unleashing a fiery uppercut that sent the larger Demon Beast flying as if it was nothing. Then as the Demon Beast landed head-first, the warrior child had already closed the distance and grappled the monster by the arm.

Intent on giving him a taste of his own medecine, Mety lifted the heavy Demon Beast right above him and with a second war cry slammed his own body straight down, using his own weight to break Box Boxer's spinal cord. The sickening crunch that came indicated the success of the technique and the yellow puffball thrown the monster right in front of him before gathering power into his left foot.

The spinning, fiery roundhouse kick that came impacted Box Boxer's bathered body with such strength that it exploded, sending a mess of black and red ooze all over the place. The black ooze quickly dissolved under the effects of the sunrays, leaving only bits of dog-like monster all over the place...

Panting, the yellow puffball stood there, still feeling the rush of adrenaline through his body. He just wasn't going to let those bad guys get the best of him. Really, Trollbot? No way he would accept dying at the hands of a monster with a name dumb like that.

"Mety... are you alright?"

As the rage finally subdued, the world begun to spin. The yellow puffball brought a paw to his side and his eyes fluttered. He felt so... exhausted, so faint. He knew that if he were Kirby, he'd probably just collapse from sheer exhaustion. However, he was not Kirby so he would walk back to the castle and-

bam!

For a moment, Fumu was really worried, running to the puffball's side as he just collapsed all of a sudden. But despite the injuries that covered his entire body, she felt intense relief going through her body as she heard him snooze gently. The damage to his body was obvious but at least, he was alive...

* * *

><p>Marx bounced on his ball by the balcony, his expression unreadable as his piercing gaze surveyed the scene below. Soft clanking sounds could be heard behind the jester, Escargoon observing the metal plates. The old advisor then found what he was looking for and held it high above his head, his two eyes shifting and merging into a single yellow one as the true master of the snail's body took a good look at the mask with his true form's eye. He shifted it in his hand, looking at it carefully before putting it back into the pile, his eye separating back into Escargoon's normal eyes.<p>

Marx glanced back at the snail, a slight smirk on his face. Then as he turned to look back at the scene below, the advisor made his way to his side and also looked down.

"So... has the nuisance been eliminated?" he could already guess the answer. If Marx was happy, then the puffball was probably already dead.

"Nah. He beat Trollbot and Box Boxer. By a hair but he still did."

Escargoon raised an eyebrow. The jester had anticipated this reaction and elaborated without being prompted to. "It appears that we had understimated Meta Knight's threat level. He was deemed a non-factor to our plans, a pointless soul among any others. You have read his data file, did you?"

Escargoon nodded. "We have done so."

Marx flashed a toothy grin. "Excellent. Then you know why we show interest in him."

Escargoon seemed vaguely bored. He crossed his arms and leaned against the railguard, not paying attention to much of anything. "Actually, we fail to see the purpose."

Marx grinned. "We have carefully selected each of our agents to dispatch to this world. The inhabitants of this planet are still convinced that we are Demon Beasts and Dedede believe us to be a substitute for the NME. And our masked friend turned painted yellow defender happen to wield Galaxia..."

And at this moment, Escargoon regained his grin. "Clever, extremely clever. You have always been a genius, individual unit Marx. The collective appreciate your good work."

Indeed. And now that they had confirmed Meta Knight's identity through this latest goof, he had just the card he needed to put Meta Knight into the state of mind he required to get him to do exactly what he wanted. Soon, very soon, the final obstacle between him and galactic domination will be gone. Very, very soon...

* * *

><p><strong>TO BE CONTINUED...<strong>


	6. The Child Unchained

**OFF:** New chapter in! This one is not as long as the previous one but should still come off as interesting, I hope.

_to Plasmicstorm:_ Yes, Box Boxer is a mini-boss from Kirby & The Amazing Mirror. I picked him because of how aggressive and overall difficult to defeat he is compared to the usual Kirby mini-boss. Trollbot is an original enemy that I created to embody the Copy Ability (as in, the 'Copy' Copy Ability, not the innate power) since I thought that using the Super Star monster TAC wouldn't have the same effect exactly. Glad to know you liked him.

_to Lunara the ara:_ To your question, yes pretty much. Glad you're liking the story and I do understand that things may get a bit tricky at times. I'm glad you still enjoy the story even at the times where it become more complex.

_to Modulus Division:_ Welcome back. I'm glad you really enjoy this new story (Beginning of the End was cancelled/put on hold because although it did progress well, I ended up messing up the portrayal of Zero, the primary antagonist. Not wanting to post two rewrites in a row, I decided to put it on hold until at least this story is writen to its end). And I'm glad you find the characters to be in-character and the twists, to be interesting. As said to a previous reviewer, I am aware that this story veer pretty far from the beaten path and as such, I tend to get worried regarding if the characters, Meta Knight in particular, are still in-character.

For the grammar, it's a problem I always had and am constantly trying to avert. I have a person who is beta-ing my story so many of my typos are caught before each chapter is posted but I have ceased to use a proof-reading program as I found out that it tended to mess up my chapters more than it fixed them. Mostly, I've fallen back on the method of 'pratice, pratice some more until you stop making mistakes'.

As for your questions regarding the plot and Meta Knight's fate... well, read on!

* * *

><p><strong>HONOR THE PAST<strong>

CHAPTER 4:  
>The Child Unchained<p>

* * *

><p>"He is very seriously injured but I have managed to stabilize him. It's not that much but it's what I could do. At least, it will help until our offworld allies arrive..."<p>

Fumu had never realized it as much as now but the town had truly changed since Kirby's death. It was kind of surprising and ironic, in a way. The death of the young Star Warrior had struck the town by complete surprise but it had other effects than just shocking the Cappies. Although the signs were there before, they couldn't be more obvious now.

As if guessing the young girl's thoughts, the old doctor smiled. He adjusted his glasses and took a step away from the sleeping yellow puffball before speaking up quietly.

"I know that it surprises you. Me, actually helping with a real injury. It's true that I have not been of much help before..." he said, taking a seat near his desk. "I guess tragedy has a way of changing people."

Fumu had not much to say to that. She simply looked at him and then to the bandages that now covered Meta Knight. It wasn't that much true but it had been many steps above what they had expected of the old Cappy, which had been to do nothing but comment that he couldn't do anything.

"I should have been able to do something."

The girl stared at the doctor for a moment. At first, the meaning of that last comment didn't really register. Especially considering he had done much more than what had been expected of him now. But as her memory stirred, she suddenly remembered her late friend and she understood.

"There is nothing you could have done. The space base's medics were very clear about this. He had too many third-degree burns on and inside his body..."

"I know. But it doesn't matter." Just as she was about to try to rebuke him, he continued, motionning with a hand to indicate that she shouldn't raise her voice. "I am a doctor. It is my duty to help those in need. But... I failed him. Even if I couldn't have saved him, I should have been able to help. But I couldn't do anything at all. I was completely helpless when I shouldn't have been."

He leaned in his chair, nodding to himself. Fumu rebecame calm. She didn't expect him to word it like this...

"How much time did Kirby stay with us? More than a year for sure. And he spent all that time fighting monsters. I should have known that someday, someone would get hurt, maybe even seriously. I should have studied to help with real injuries. I should have been ready. But I was lazy. I spent my entire life just treating colds and, I don't know, in some kind of wish-thinking attitude, thought that Kirby's presence would magically make everything alright, that no one would ever get hurt. I grew even more certain of it when he returned after defeating Nightmare. After all, what Demon Beast could possibly beat our adorable, invulnerable savior?"

He smiled in an acid way. Indeed, who could have thought, before Marx came, that anyone could possibly outsmart or outfight Kirby? After all, Kirby was invincible, everyone knew that. Oh sure, he'd get bruised but he always got the best out of bad guys, always and if he was in a real danger, Meta Knight or Knuckle Joe would come and give him a hand. The mere possibility that Kirby would someday lose a fight or get tricked for real had never crossed anyone's mind...

"So this is why I begun to open medecine books and improve myself, ever since he died. So that if someone got hurt again, I wouldn't be helpless again. So I'd be able to help somehow..."

And it was then that Fumu realized the full implications of her own thoughts. Dreamland had changed ever since that day and now that she thought of it, she realized how much it had. People now stood up to Dedede, they no longer allowed him to boss them around. When Meta Knight had risen to help them, the people had not just cheered for him this time too. She remembered how they had made that contraption to give Meta Knight the Spark Ability and had worked together to bring it to him, how quickly everyone had moved. Somehow, things had changed. Fumu could not help but realize that she, too, had changed.

She remembered the times she'd be suspicious so far back, when her concerns had been different. When she would have scolded Meta Knight for so many things. But when he decided to stand up for himself and defend them as Kirby once had, she had not hesitated. She had helped him as readily as if he had been Kirby, not asking questions...

She still missed Kirby. Everyone did. She still wished he would still be here, with his happy smile, his energy, his playful attitude. But she now realized that even in death, he had still helped them one final time by showing them all that no matter how minor they may seem, no matter how helpless they may seem in the face of the enemies they face, everyone's contribution does matter.

She guessed... it kind of made it better. Maybe.

She looked to the child lying on the bed, sleeping peacefully. He looked so tiny, so vulnerable and in a way, she suddenly wondered if this was truly Meta Knight. Underneath that yellow paint was the blue puffball who wore a mask, armor, wielded Galaxia, and had always acted so serious. Yet, right now, he was sleeping like a baby, his expression so innocent. Just like a big yellow gumball, not unlike the pink one had been...

"Say... I noticed something peculiar when when helping our yellow friend."

Fumu was brought out of her thoughts by Fabui as he broke the silence again. She looked at him, waiting for him to go on. "Yes?"

"I noticed something covering his body. Could it be that he is covered in paint somehow?"

Fumu flinched. She remembered the promise she made to Meta Knight and with all of the stress he's going through, she guessed that now was definitely not a good time for his identity to be revealed. He would probably freak out if the truth came out right now and she definitely didn't need that and neither did he. On another hand, she guessed that lying would not turn out very well either. Still, an idea came to her...

"Yes. But I think it would be best to leave it on and not ask questions. I mean, he's like Kirby was so he's probably a Star Warrior too."

The doctor nodded. "Yes, that is quite probable..."

"And you may remember how Meta Knight was touchy about his mask. So maybe it's a Star Warrior thing."

She hoped it would work. For a moment, the old Cappy seemed to be in thought and then, after a while, nodded again. "Yes, you must be right. I will tell the offworld medics when they arrive about this detail. It would be best not to embarass him."

Well, that was something out of the way. She guessed all she could do was now wait, like everyone else.

Still, a single, disturbing thought came to her. It had haunted her ever since Marx had shown up but it was especially prominent now.

Who is Marx serving? Who sent him to Dreamland? Nightmare is gone, killed by Kirby. Knuckle Joe and Silica have confirmed that the NME broke down in a bunch of harmless factions who are far too busy killing one another to think about anyone else. All of the remaining Demon Beasts who have no affiliation are way too weak to band together and Yamikage has been confirmed to be struggling, and failing, trying to unite the NME remnants under his own command.

So... since the NME cannot be possibly behind this then who is? And how powerful is this new enemy?

Nightmare was the emperor of darkness, the cosmic embodiment of negative traits of the universe and yet, his Demon Beasts were never as clever, vicious, or powerful as those that this new enemy is sending. What could this mean about this new enemy? Who is it? What does it want?

It's hard to tell. At least, with the NME, it was easy to spy on Dedede's conversations with their salesman and the penguin proclaimed all of his plans on Channel DDD anyway. But this new enemy... they've not been able to learn anything about it, not a single bit of information. Even Knuckle Joe and Silica, when they visited, admitted that absolutely no one have any idea of who they might be and it isn't as if they didn't search...

She chased those thoughts away. They were terrifying her and she knew that she, like everyone, would need to be ready when the next Demon Beast attack comes.

* * *

><p>The penguin king was fuming, his face all red and his eyes bulging. It was obvious that he was enraged at the latest turn of events. Yet both his advisor and jester watched with upmost calm, the clown-ish Demon Beast innocently bouncing on his ball as he always did while the older snail merely gazedat his liege, his gaze unreadable. Both seemed to barely notice the foul mood of the king.<p>

"I've been swindled! Swindled I say! They said it would clobber that darn gumball but it survived again! I've been had! HAD!"

Marx bid his time, letting Dedede vent off his fury. If he intervened now, Dedede would just ignore him or foolishly try to boss him around, burrying any words he may have in that pointless tantrum of his. Still, this did not bother the jester too much. The penguin king, despite his size and ecentric behaviour, was very easily duped and was thoroughly predictable. Escargoon also knew this but had always tried to calm, in vain, the king in the past. That had been foolishness of the worst kind.

Escargoon's face was impassive and yet, internally, emotions warred. The original soul was begging him to intervene, to do something about the king. Those were foolish thoughts. Even after all this time spent possessed, it seemed that the snail had not yet understood that his individuality was now forfeit. His body, his mind, his memories, his very emotions now belonged to the Dark Matter Collective to use as they please. This expression of individuality does not serve the collective's purposes and was thus ignored.

"Problems with your host?" Marx spoke up, his voice quiet but still audible. The advisor nodded slowly. He knew that with the king busy throwing a tantrum, they could speak freely. The Waddle Dee guards were outside and with Meta Knight injured, all of his allies were offworld to deal with various issues. They were safe to discuss openly.

"He will soon accept his place within the collective. He has already accepted that his body isn't his anymore." said the advisor.

"Well, that's good news. Let us guess, worry for the king makes him freak out?" Marx was just as observant as usual. But then, he was a genius. It was normal that he would guess such things.

"Although he knows that an intervention will not calm the king, he still wishes to act out of principle. Such a course of action is innefficient and unnacceptable. The Dark Matter Collective does not condone such wastes of time."

"Give it some time. He will break and comply. No one can resist forever."

Escargoon nodded at Marx's words. "True. Everyone breaks in time. They all comply to assimilation. Will is irrelevent to the collective."

The jester turned his gaze away from the old advisor and saw the king as he yelled expletives at the screen, wondering why he got static instead of the usual transmission to the Dark Matter Collective. What a buffoon! As if the collective had time to waste with him! The collective only bother with him because he is of use and because it is not practical to possess or kill him at the moment. Unlike the NME, the Dark Matter Collective care not for such petty things as sadistic games or what not. Only effeciency matter. And the second Dedede become the least preferable option, he shall be removed from power and Marx shall assume the control of the planet for himself.

The jester couldn't help but to smirk internally at the thoughts of taking over this planet. Oh the changes he'll bring to this planet, they will be exquisite! Not to mention that with the Fountain of Dreams on this planet, this will give him leverage in the Dark Matter Collective.

Still, his own desires as an individual unit will have to wait. His priorities lies first with the greater purpose of the Dark Matter Collective and now that Dedede has calmed down, having run out of energy, it is time for him to resume his duties to the collective.

"Hey hey hey!"

The playful word repeated thrice, Marx's trademark introduction line, cut through the eerie silence of the throne room. The great penguin king turned to face the jester...

"You seem quite upset! It's that yellow puffball, isn't it?"

Any earlier and this would have resulted in the king turning his rage to Marx. But with all of his energy spent yelling at the transporter machine's monitor, Dedede merely walked back to his throne and let him collapse into it, slumping in the chair in an exhausted manner.

"I thought I was done with such stupidity when Kirby got clobbered! And now that Dark Matter Collective's monsters are failing me just as badly as the NME's junk did back when that darn pink pest was alive!"

The king sighed in defeat, depressed. The jester came closer, bouncing his ball near the throne, his playfully blank eyes looking up into the penguin's face...

"Don't worry! I can make that problem go away."

This caught Dedede's attention. His sudden depression faded and was replaced by curiosity as his eyes lit up. The jester saw this and elaborated.

"You must remember how I took care of that mean old Kirby, right? Blasted him right to a crisp!"

The king smiled weakly for a moment. "Yeah, I remember that! You clobbered him good!"

"I can make that yellow puffball go away too. Same as I did to Kirby."

This definitely made the king react. He straightened himself, his gaze now locked on the small jester. A hopeful expression could be seen on his face... "Oh? You're going to blow him up too? That would be great!"

"Nah... not exactly. I hate repeating plans. People predict what you're going to do and stop it if you repeat plans." repeated Marx casually as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I got a special surprise for that mean old gumball next time it shows its face in Dreamland. Believe me. When he'll return all patched-up to the planet, I'll have the perfect plan just for him waiting to be sprung up!"

Dedede was definitely out of his depression now. He got up, bringing his hands together in delight. "Excellent! Say, what is the plan? Does it involve explosives again? Will you blow up something?"

Marx's expression remained the same. "Oh, I cannot say right now. It will be a surprise, sir! But you can be sure of one thing! When I'll be done with him, he'll either leave for good or he'll stay in Dreamland. Forever. Six feet under."

The penguin king felt a chill going through his spine. The way Marx spoke so casually and playfully even about such morbid things had ways of creeping him out even if he was about to do something nice. Still, what did it matter in the end? With Marx on the case, soon that stupid yellow puffball will be gone forever!

Of course, that means waiting until the puffball return first but if Marx got a surprise for him, then it will definitely be worth it. And with the jester's suggestion of being feared instead of loved, he won't get a repeat of the Kirby case. Everyone will fear him, everyone will respect him. Everyone shall respect the great king Dedede and his magnificient, spectacular rule. Indeed...

* * *

><p>The medics on the space station had been skilled. He knew it and he could see it as white eyes scanned the blue puffball in the mirror. Where deep purple bruises had covered his body, where the round curve had been deformed by the brutal impacts of fists, there was now only a single, smooth curve covered in blue ellastic skin. A few weeks of recovery and the feeling of weakness had faded too, leaving him as if nothing had happened. But it had happened. He knew it deep down.<p>

He remembered the wet feeling, the way he had felt his insides displaced, crushed, squashed. He remembered the discomfort, the pain just from lying down as organs had been placed in spots never meant for them. He had remembered his splintered bones, the feelings that something was broken, torn apart inside him. He remembered the acute, agonizing pain and the way he had cried, day after day, with the painkillers and sleep only bringing brief respites.

He looked to the infant in the mirror, tears forming from the memory of the pain and from the sheer emotional stress he had went through. Meta Knight knew that he was brave. He had been trained by Arthur himself, trained to be ready, to face death with dignity, with courage, without fear. Yet the memory burnt him. He had not been brave, he had not been dignified.

Star Warriors were meant to accept death. Death was an eventuality, a part of the war. It was not the place of Star Warriors to kid themselves with the thought that they could overthrow the NME and defeat Nightmare. Their purpose was to defend the worlds of light until the destined time came, until the Star Warrior who could defeat Nightmare awakened and smited him. Until then, the Star Warriors were merely to buy time, to protect, and to die for the light. Victory was not a question. The lowly soldiers of the Galactic Star Soldier army, those people from all those civilizations who wished to fight back against the NME, they could live the lie, believe that they were going to win, that they were going to defeat the NME and return home ever again. But Star Warriors knew the truth. Only the fated hero will win the war, only he will survive it. All the others are to die to protect the light.

The knight looked at the child in the mirror and knew shame once more.

Jecra was a fool. He had been told several times to stop thinking about returning home, about seeing his son ever again. He was told many times he would never return and would die as foretold. But he and Meta Knight had fought together to protect and to survive. For the future, for Jecra's son, for everyone. Maybe Jecra had been a fool... yet, somehow, Meta Knight did not want to believe that and neither did the blue infant in the mirror.

Jecra had maybe been foolish, dying like an animal, trashing about in a vain attempt to save himself, fighting to the very last of his power as if he could drive back the endless hordes of Demon Beasts. And he also remembered how he had felt... how... he had felt so... so... so...

... so scared.

He had been scared out of his wits. He had tried to save him, he had tried to get closer, to grab him, to bring him away from that awful place, from all those monsters that wanted to kill them. The battle was lost before it had even begun and it had been meaningless, pointless. Protect the light... protect what, exactly? A bunch of rocks on which no one lived, that had no weapons and no ressources on them? Dying to a bunch of monsters because Arthur had said so?

He had run. And now that he remembered about it, he understood the wisdom of Blade and Sword when they chose not to remain. They had been calmer about it, seemingly dignified but he knew that they had run away too. They had all run without waiting for the order to retreat. It never came, he knew it wouldn't. Arthur was going to let them die to the very last and they had indeed died to the last, leaving only him and his two knaves.

Arthur had led them to their deaths. All of them. Why?

Honor. Suddenly, the child in the mirror found himself wondering what that stupid word meant in the first place. So many Star Warriors had died on that dumb rock, so many good soldiers, so many with so much to lose. Why had they died? It wasn't as if the NME didn't already control the sector and it didn't change anything.

Even now, the blue puffball remembered when he had been in the middle of town. He remembered the sheer pain, the blood that poured from his body, and the sheer terror that had gripped his heart. He didn't want to die, he didn't want anyone to die. Kirby... Kirby...

He felt so guilty. He felt so awful, so montrous, so guilty. He had called for help, called for him to do something, anything, had begged to stay. Like Jecra, he hadn't wanted to die. And as the pink puffball had called to him, all he had done... was tell him he had fought well. It was stupid, it was heartless, it didn't mean anything. He should have told him how much he wanted him to live too, how much he would miss him if he did die, or at least tried to give him comfort, something, anything. But he had been too blind, too... too...

Meta Knight looked at the child in the mirror. Dignity and honor hadn't mattered back there. He had not fought because he had wanted to uphold honor, to uphold duty. He hadn't fought because he was a Star Warrior. He had fought because those people deserved to live, deserved to be happy. He had fought because he, himself, wanted to live. He didn't want to die, to be killed by that stupid Trollbot thing or by any of those Demon Beasts.

It was so strange. He who had lived in shame for so long, wishing for an end to it, being so upset that he had run when he should have remained... and now, he realized he didn't care about dying for the cause either.

Arthur would be so angry. Stupid Demon Beast who understood nothing of honor, barely good enough to follow the most basic of instructions. How can a vile being like him be recgonized by the sacred blade Galaxia? How can a monstrous coward like him have the fate of a Star Warrior?

Did Arthur die? What happened to him and the surviving Star Warriors when the Galactic Star Soldier force collapsed? Did they all run away too? Did they die? Did they all turn to the NME like Yamikage did?

He wanted to think that he was so much wiser than Kirby, that he understood honor much better. But it had been so much simpler when the pink puffball had been alive.

... and then, it made him feel guilty again.

The blue puffball in the mirror was sad and so much like the pink one had been. The same eyes, the same blushes, and as much as he hated to admit it, they were both children, both the same age. What was the difference between them?

Did Kirby feel like this when he put his life on the line? Did he, too, have those thoughts when he was bleeding before the eyes of a Demon Beast, knowing that he might die? Did he feel this guilt, this profound sadness at the people who got hurt around him, about those he failed to save?

Kirby had been scared, scared out of his wits, crying his eyes out when he died. He hadn't wanted to go. He had been... he had been... he had been just like him when he found himself lying in a pool of his own blood, Trollbot and Box Boxer over him.

He had hidden behind Kirby all this time, cursing him with his own burden because he had been too cowardly to face his fate, because he had been too busy hiding behind his mask to act. Oh sure, it was to train him, it was to make him stronger. The truth was that he was terrified out of his wits and unlike Kirby, refused to face it. He was just a Demon Beast pretending to be a knight after all. Why should he stand for himself or for those he love?

And then, an even more disturbing thought overcame him.

All those monsters that killed Jecra and all those other beings... what if he had been more brave? Not in the way of dying, of course but rather, what if he had thrown away his mask? What if he had inhaled deeply, tore those monsters to shreds, taken their powers, turned their power back on them? What if he had then run to his friend, grabbed him by the arm, then inflated himself and flew away from that battlefield with his friend with him?

Fumu was right. He could have made a difference. What Kirby did, he could have done.

Or... or is it? Could he have really done it? To face Nightmare, to face the wrath of the NME...

A Demon Beast, he was a Demon Beast. He had the cursed power of Demon Beasts, absorbing the power of dark ones and then using that same power of darkness and evil. It was a cursed power, one that Arthur insisted he never used.

Kirby had this power too. He looked like him. He felt... felt like him. He... he looked, felt so familiar, like they had met before, long ago, so long he couldn't remember. He felt a kinship and he knew they were practically brothers. Does it mean that he... he was... maybe... a...

No. Kirby would never have such a curse. He was so happy, so well-meaning, so brave.

He looked to the blue puffball again. He... he hated to see people get hurt. He had run away from Nightmare because he had felt sad, because seeing people get hurt made him sad. Kirby... had hated seeing people get hurt too.

He wished he didn't have to deal with all those things. It was so complicated. It was so much simpler when his pupil was taking care of it. Yet he knew it wasn't right. It had never been right. And it shouldn't have been this way.

It was silly but as he grabbed his mask and looked into the visor, preparing to put it on, Meta Knight felt disgusted, repulsed somehow. Suddenly, he found himself feeling like staring at that mask would make him throw up. He hated it, hated what it represented. Honor? What honor? He had hidden behind it like a coward for such a long time. Duty? To whom? To a prophecy no one cared about and that, considering Nightmare was killed ahead of the fated time, was proven to be false in the end anyway?

He hated the mask, he suddenly found himself wanting to throw it away, to get rid of it, to just break it into pieces, inhale the pieces, and then spit them out into the horizon where he'll never see them ever again. He wanted to live, he wanted to be happy, he... he wanted to do what he should have always be doing, protect all of those people, make them happy, he wanted... he wanted...

No... no... he can't do this. He needs the mask. He's a Demon Beast. They loved Kirby but he wasn't a Demon Beast like him, even with how identical they had been. Kirby was pure, happy, a true Star Warrior. He was just a wannabe and if he was to be ever seen without that mask... they would hate him.

Metal or paint, he needed a mask...

So he pulled it up, placed it on his face, and made sure the straps were tight. He wrapped his tiny paws in those big gloves that were too big for him, fitted his arms inside the armor. He adjusted his position, compensating for the heavy shoulder plates, made sure his mecha-cape was in position and ready to turn into wings if needed.

It was the only way it could be. So it would be this way...

* * *

><p>Fumu had arrived as quickly as she could at the town square. There was some kind of commotion somehow, something big happening. Considering the track record of the last few months, she could bet that Marx had something to do with it and that it could be nothing good.<p>

Her suspicions were proven correct as she reached the center of the town and saw the despicable jester, innocently bouncing on his ball, that blank happy expression on his face as usual. That expression was a lie. If there is evil inside of any being, it is certainly inside of Marx. He is heartless, a monster who took away Kirby from them and almost took away Meta Knight too. She hope he trips and fall down on his head.

"Hey hey hey!" the falsely cheerful voice of the jester echoed through the town square, reaching the young girl. She clenched her fisst, glaring at him as viciously as she could. She was starting to really, really dislike him. He didn't seem to pay any attention to her gaze or even notice it. "Fumu, isn't it? The daughter of our noble king's minister! It is sure a honor for nobility such as you to bless this humble entertainer with her presence!"

The different Cappies all stepped back, clearing a path for the girl. Her brother had remained a bit back and Blade and Knight, Meta Knight's knaves, were hiding in the crowd just in case, ready to intervene if things went wrong. And as this involved Marx, it was only a matter of time.

"Oh quit it. What are you planning this time? Why can't you leave Dreamland alone?" she let out accusingly. The people did not know why she was so aggressive toward the small Demon Beast. After all, he had been so innocent, so gentle to all of them. To the general population, Marx was a harmless buffoon whose biggest crime was telling Dedede jokes and hanging with Escargoon. Fumu knew otherwise. She knew his true nature.

"I do not understand why you hate me so much, miss. I am but a simple buffoon, earning his wages by entertaining our majesty."

"Then what is the meaning of this? Why the big crowd?" she didn't feel like sitting through another of his attempts at sounding innocent. She was going to make him spill the beans right here, right now.

Frustratingly enough, he just kept bouncing on his ball as if nothing had happened. No vicious grins, no gloating, no revelations about his true motives or anything. Just the same innocent-looking manipulator trying to play the masses.

"Our king has been very depressed lately." he said, a deep, sad frown forming on his face. Fumu felt no sympathy. "The yellow puffball has made him so sad. Yet, every time he has tried to shoo it away with a Demon Beast, it caused horrible damage to our tiny town."

Marx paused for a moment. The young girl bet this was a deliberate one.

"And well, none of the castle's guards will do anything. So..." he looked down, trying to look very sad. "I will try to fight him myself, try to shoo him away."

From the lack of gasps from the crowd, he had probably already explained this to the crowd, hence the huge gathering. In fact, this was probably why they had gathered in the first place, all staring at the tiny Demon Beast.

"I know he is beloved of our land and I know that I am but a tiny court jester... but somehow must do something. If no one take a stand, the king will worry himself to death and with the rise of those new Demon Beasts... who knows what could happen without our king to protect us?"

"Protect us? He's the one who buy those Demon Beasts and send them to attack us in the first place!" she had heard enough of Marx's lies. It was making her sick.

"Yes, protect us!" countered the jester. "What do you think would happen if Dedede no longer ruled? Then the masters of the Demon Beasts would be able to just swoop in and claim those lands as theirs with no opposition! I know you all think of Dedede as a bully but he is necessary! Just think of all those times the NME could have attacked in the past but didn't because Dedede was there to buy stuff from them."

Clever, Marx was one little clever Demon Beast. Constantly avoiding getting the blame on him, constantly trying to pass himself off as innocent. And now, he wanted to fight Meta Knight one-on-one? This was a trap, an obvious trap. But here he was, making himself into a hero, making points to clear Dedede's name, points that she admitted sounded relatively sensible. But this was madness!

Besides, anger burnt inside her. Marx had killed Kirby. Kirby had been her friend, one she had deeply cared for. She had cared for him and he had cared for her, the two even facing Nightmare together. And now that monster, who just killed him, try to pass himself off as a hero? This is an insult! She wants him dead, she wants him destroyed and sent back to Nightmare or whoever his master is in pieces! And she really, really would like to see Meta Knight inhale him or butcher him with a Copy Ability.

But this had to be a trap. Marx couldn't seriously think of just a fair fight, right? He had been so clever, never making mistakes, never exposing himself, his only exposition in the past causing more harm to everyone than to him. It couldn't be so simple...

This had to be a trap and considering how the last trap had so barely killed Meta Knight, she didn't want to send him into another one. But what could she do? If she tried to punch Marx herself, she would look like she had gone insane... if he didn't just take on that strange winged form of his and butchered her first. She couldn't just let him sit there, claiming high and loud about how heroic he is, making Dedede into a hero and discrediting Meta Knight. Something had to be done... and unfortunately, the only solution she could see was to play along.

As she glanced back into the crowd, she could see the two soldiers looking back at her. They could already guess what she was thinking and as she nodded to them, they knew what had to be done. It was a trap... but nothing else could be done.

The girl looked back to Marx, glaring daggers at him. He stopped his rant to the crowd and simply returned her glare calmly, his expression without a hint of malice. For some reason, she felt blatantly insulted by how calm and serene he looked. She just wished for Meta Knight to splatter all over a wall, to make him eat that infernal grin of his.

Seconds turned to minutes as the two stared at each others, neither backing down.

The crowd was utterly silent, not one whisper rising. Time seemed to freeze, the only sound being the repetitive bouncing of the jester on his ball, neither of the two saying a word. Neither the girl or the Demon Beast backed down, as if dueling with their gazes, Fumu's expression remaining as serious and determined as before while Marx remained impassive, mindlessly happy, yet his unfocused eyes never leaving his opponent's own eyes.

Then the footsteps broke the eerie silence and everyone spun to see the familiar yellow puffball, his expression determined. Nearby, Blade and Sword remained ready in case their lord needed a blade or direct assistance. They were wary but confident. If they all worked together, they would defeat Marx's latest plan, as they foiled his last two.

"So you have come..." although his tone was casual, the jester was grinning maniacally inside.

"I will defend Dreamland!" he called. Last time, he was reckless and had been caught unaware. Although without an ability this time as well, he was ready for any tricks.

"Really, will you?"

The reply didn't seem to make sense. The tone was superficially casual but held an accusing tone to it, one that was very much noticed by everyone in the crowd. Cappies looked at each others and Fumu couldn't help but wonder what kind of game Marx was playing this time.

Of course, the effect had been deliberate and with everyone silent and listening, the jester finished his reply. "Considering what you are, I am doubting. I, at least, don't hide my nature."

This was definitely worrying. Everyone was confused while Fumu, her, couldn't help but feel herself tensing even more. Bun shot glances at Blade and Sword, whose cringing was hidden by their armor. What was Marx implying? Surely, he does not know that it is truly sir Meta Knight, covered in yellow paint, standing heroically? After all, their lord has made sure to remove his mask only when alone and all those who knew had honored their pledge to keep the true identity of 'Mety' secret.

This had disturbed the young warrior too, although he had tried not to show it. But although his expression did not change, Marx's eyes, as blank and mindless as they seemed, did catch a glimpse of one of the yellow puffball's feet moving backward a bit, hesitation creeping up.

"I don't know what you're talking about and I don't care! But if it's a fight you're looking for, then I'm not afraid of you! You hear me, Demon Beast? I'm not afraid of you!"

"I'm not afraid of you either! For the good of Dreamland, it is now time for you to leave! If you won't... then fight!"

It was the moment he had been waiting for, the moment Fumu had waited for, the moment everyone of his allies had been waiting for. The moment where Marx would finally come out in the open and Meta Knight would fight him, one-on-one. The yellow puffball had been sleeping when Kirby was struck down by this demonic clown. He heard the explosions, the screams, Marx's maniacal laugh. Although he had not seen the jester's rumored true form with his own two eyes, he knew that he had killed his pupil, his friend, his counterpart.

This was for Kirby.

He opened his mouth wide and did not hesitate. He inhaled, putting as much strength as he could, widening his mouth to the point where it almost hurt him, straining his lungs as he went all out. He would destroy that Demon Beast, annihilate it. After all of the pain it brought, all of the sorrow it inflicted upon Dreamland, it would not be allowed to hurt anyone ever again.

Marx had been expecting this and his eyes focused, his blank gaze suddenly turning into a vicious, intense, piercing glare. His vacant grin became an arrogant smirk and his traits darkened. He had expected this and did not hesitate either.

As the massive gust of wind gripped into him, Marx backflipped off of his ball with speed that no one thought possible. Except for Fumu and Bun, who had seen the fiend's true abilities for themselves, no one had suspected that the tiny clown-like Demon Beast could have this kind of agility.

As the gust of wind gripped into his frame and into his ball, Marx moved with perfect precision and slammed one shoe straight into the ball, kicking into it with incredible strength. The kick sent it flying and with the pufball inhaling with all of his strength, the result became unavoidable.

PLOP!

Mety's eyes widened as he found himself with the large rubber ball stuck in his mouth, preventing him from inhaling further or even breathing. To say the truth, it was more of a surprise than anything else and he could easily wrap his mouth around the thing and swallow it, although he didn't know if it would give him an ability.

No, that is disgusting. Marx had been bouncing on the thing all this time. He'll spit it back at-

It didn't really register in time. Marx had landed flawlessly back on his feet and somehow, despite an apparant lack of limbs, now pointed a large plastic flower at the yellow puffball. The way thoughts chained was quite fast actually but considering the speed at which things happened, it hadn't been enough.

From the flower errupted a massive jet of water. The blue stream slammed straight into the infant and sent it flying. The water knocked the ball right out of Mety's mouth as well as the remaining air that was in his lungs and he found himself startled by a familiar pain as he was slammed into a nearby wall, the unpleasantly hard surface racking his back. But although he had been surprised, it didn't actually hurt that much. Apart from the impact with the wall, he had been pushed back more than anything else.

But as he stepped forward, Mety suddenly felt... strange. He felt wet, true, but it was in a very strange way. His skin was itching, burning a bit even. His vision had blurred slightly and he found himself instinctively wiping his eyes, as if something slimy was all over his body. Then, at this moment, he noticed that something was awfully, awfully wrong with his limbs.

He froze.

His gaze trailed down. His eyes begun to widen, his mouth opening and refusing to close. Time seemed to stop as his entire body was chilled to the core by a horror that took hold of his tiny body slowly.

"You see, I know your secret, 'Mety'." Marx's normally gentle and casual voice turned bitter, mocking, and sarcastic as he said the puffball's name.

The jet of water had not been a normal one. It had contained a mix of powerful soap and cleaning agents and applied upon Mety's body, it caused the yellow paint that covered his body to liquefy and trail down his body. Before everyone's confused eyes and the horrified gazes of his allies, the mysterious warrior's true color, a strangely familiar shade of blue, was revealed to everyone. But it didn't quite register, no one making the connection.

Mety seemed to be strangely dazed. He had barely heard the words and just looked to the jester, pure shock all over his face. The clown-ish Demon Beast seemed triumphant somehow. With a smirk, he then thrown something at the puffball's feet.

It was... his mask.

"... or should I call you by your true name, Meta Knight?"

The collective gasp was so loud, so sudden it seemed as if the crowd had reacted as one. Whispers couldn't even be brought up. Meta Knight tried to bring up the will to say something, anything or even just to move but all he could do was stare while his mouth shook, incoherent stuttering and whispered whines coming out.

"But then, I can understand you. I never claimed to be anything more than I was. Meanwhile, you and Kirby lied to everyone about your natures, claiming you were Star Warriors or something. I mean, they'd have kicked you out if they knew you were Demon Beasts, right?"

That... that was getting out of hand. Marx was playing the crowd, manipulating everyone. And it was working, Fumu knew it for even her found herself with her body shaking out of control. But she had to do something, she had to stop him now!

"An-and wha-wha-what gives... gives you the right to accuse Kirby and Meta Knight of being Demon Beasts? You work for Dedede!" Fumu didn't like the way she stuttered or the doubt in her own voice. But she had to speak up, she had to!

"So none of you ever found it weird?" Marx had walked back to his ball and had now resumed bouncing on it. "Isn't it awfully convenient to have a puffball that can use the power of any Demon Beast with no compability problems whatsoever and got innate battle abilities, not needing much if any training? Doesn't that sound like a Demon Beast?"

Fumu had heard enough. That he would insult Meta Knight but to insult the memory of Kirby? The nerve! "Kirby wasn't evil!"

"And neither are Fololo or Falala. Yet, they are Demon Beasts nonetheless. Why else would Meta Knight hide his face like this? Why else would he hide his connection to Kirby or to Nightmare?"

All of the gazes were now upon him. Everyone was staring, everyone was whispering. All around him, doubt rose. Fumu's arguing did little to change anything. Everyone saw and everyone begun to realize...

The mask at his feet...

The fact that it was a replica didn't register. Marx did not need for it to be the real one, only needed the effect that throwing it and having it here at Meta Knight's feet would cause. And now, everyone was thinking on his words. He knew that even with the truth staring them in the face, they would not be willing to accept it. Fumu and Meta Knight's other allies would also try to remind people of how the puffballs had stood up for them. All of this brought him to his trump card...

"Ha... the irony."

Complete silence. Fumu felt a chill go through her spine, Blade and Knight spun to face the source of the sound, Bun stepped backward instinctively, Meta Knight's eyes rose as his body begun to shake incontrollably, sweat trailing down his sides as his mind screamed for him to run away. This was not possible. He couldn't have heard this voice. He just couldn't have.

The town had darkened, the sun barely illuminating the darkness anymore. Light shone above Marx, an orb of stars glowing in a dull, hollow blue light. A feeling of dread radiated from the orb, reaching into the hearts of every soul staring while Marx just bounced on his ball underneath.

The orb hovered backward a bit and then, in a flash of light, Meta Knight fell to his knees. His eyes were widened in pure terror as he stared... at him...

"B... but... you are... dead..." Fumu's whisper barely made it out of her throat but Nightmare paid no attention, his grin gigantic and devious.

"Kirby... he destroyed you months ago. This... this is impossible!" the blue puffball shook his head in denial. It just wasn't possible. He found himself springing to his feet. "You are dead! YOU ARE DEAD! You can't be here!"

"Did you really think I could be destroyed so easily? It is just as I told you, as I told your so-called friends. As long as the power of everyone's fear is mine, as long as I am connected to all things, I am eternal and invulnerable. Even the Star Rod can only drive me away but for a short time. Still, isn't fate ironic? You who wished to get away from me... came to me all on your own, without being ordered, as did Kirby."

"Isn't it also awfully convenient?" that was Marx. "A planet in the middle of Nightmare's empire and yet, left completely alone? With the dark emperor's very base, the very heart of his empire, just on orbit and not doing anything? And now, this world... this land... Dreamland. You never made the connection? Seriously?"

This couldn't be true, this had to be some sort of trick and yet, Fumu couldn't shake it. The sinking feeling in her heart, the way his voice was just the same she remembered, the vile aura of pure malice... this was the dark emperor, freshly reborn just as he said he would be. Much weaker than before but it was him alright. And what he said, what he claimed... this... this couldn't possibly mean...

"Dreamland is my homeland. It is on this planet, at the Fountain of Dreams, that my power originate. Why do you think that you and your brother were drawn to this planet? It is on this world the planet I come from, the planet to which I always return upon death."

Old wounds, so old that Meta Knight had long forgotten them, opened once more. Fear that he had long repressed surfaced. He found himself unable to keep it in. Without his mask, humiliated, hated by all, he couldn't resist. He cried, he sobbed and just let the fear and sadness wash over his soul. He had run away for so long, tried to hide his nature, tried to masquerade an adult, brave knight in hopes that Nightmare would leave him alone and in the end, it had all been in vain.

It was true. It was all too convenient. It had been all too convenient. That he'd be drawn, alongside Kirby, to that particular planet. That Kirby would have the same powers he did. That they would be the same age. That Nightmare would just happen to have such a close connection to this world and yet never destroy it. He had thought he had run away, that he was done with it, and that after Kirby had destroyed his body, that he would be at peace. It had all been a lie and he now understood why the NME remnants had been failing.

It was because Nightmare had been reborn here all along, had been rebuilding things all along. The nightmare had never ended. And now, Kirby was gone, killed by Nightmare and his new Demon Beasts...

"Who cares? You've been beaten once! We will beat you again!"

Fumu's voice cut through his despair. And then, at that moment, he felt something else. It wasn't positive, it wasn't at all. But it gave him strength. It allowed him to stand. It allowed him to bear the dark emperor's glare.

"You are fools! As long as the power of the Fountain of Dreams is mine, I can never truly die and with that worthless traitor Kirby gone, none remains who can fight me!"

"I can."

Every single person's stare turned to the blue puffball. Nightmare, intrigued, stared at the young one.

"If I use Galaxia's power on the source of your power, I will end your cycle of resurrections."

The evil demon's grin became even wider. "But will you dare to kill your master? You are not like Kirby. You are nothing but a coward who hid behind a pitiful little mask and behind your superior brother all this time along. You can never destroy me. Put that mask on and go pretend some more that you're some heroic Star Warrior!"

Meta Knight heard voices. He didn't really recognize them but what he did know is that he charged at a green armored knight and slammed one limb into his face, punching him while tearing Galaxia out of its sheat. He didn't care for words, for anyone or anything. He wanted Nightmare gone. He wanted him to leave him alone once and for all.

"You're nothing but a coward!"

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" the blue child screamed at the top of his lungs, Galaxia errupting into bright flames as he swung it. The powerful shockwave slammed only thin air, the evil emperor having somehow teleported back.

"Oh, go ahead and try. You will never do it. You cannot do it."

The caped figure vanished back into the form of an orb and flew off. Meta Knight did not care anymore if he didn't have his mask, if no one loved him, if Kirby had truly been like him, or if he never had honor to begin with. He... he just wanted Nightmare to vanish, to leave him alone. And if he needed to kill him to do it, he would do it. Using the power of Galaxia, he will destroy the Fountain of Dreams, end Nightmare once and for all. He will kill him. He will kill him no matter what.

"META KNIGHT!" called Fumu as the blue puffball ran out of town, following after the orb. But the infant, now maskless knight never heard the girl, didn't even pay attention one moment.

Marx, him, had a thoroughly triumphant grin on his face. Hook, line, and sinker. They couldn't have made it easier for him even if they had tried. Everything is going exactly according to plan. It was easy, way too easy.

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><p>There had to be something that could be done. Meta Knight's secret was now revealed causing the entire population of Dreamland to not only doubt him but start doubting about Kirby too. No one knew what to think or to do anymore and with the blue puffball gone, there was not much anyone could do. He had not said a word, taking Galaxia with him, running off. No one had seen him since then...<p>

This doubt had to disappear. This situation had to end. So here she was, with her brother, going to see Kabu once again. It had been such a long time since they last went to see him. She could only hope that he would know where Meta Knight went and clear things up a bit.

The two siblings stopped as they reached the massive cliff of the mountain in which the head-like entity was encased. Towering high above them, the being almost seemed to be a lifeless statue but both knew better. It was after all Kabu that had prophecized that Kirby would come to their planet and save them more than two years ago. So much had happened since then...

"WHO DISTURBS KABU?" the monotone, thundering voice of the great entity came as it sensed the intentions of the children that stood before it. It had also felt the old connection between itself and Fumu, the girl who had once summoned the Warp Star so many times for him whenever Kirby had needed it...

"Kabu, we need to know once and for all. Was Kirby a Demon Beast or a Star Warrior?" she said loud and as clearly as she could, hoping for an answer.

There was a short pause as the greater entity heard the question and then came the answer...

"KIRBY IS A STAR WARRIOR. BUT HE IS ALSO A DEMON BEAST."

And at that moment, both children were shocked. So Marx's implications, their suspicions toward the connection between Kirby and Meta Knight, it had all been true all along. To hear it from the jester had shocked them. That Meta Knight would be a Demon Beast, they had been able to accept it relatively easily but Kirby? They just couldn't imagine it. Even with Fololo and Falala, even with Meta Knight, they had never truly considered that the pink gumball of happiness could have possibly shared a darker origin with his masked counterpart.

"So it's true? He's a Demon Beast? Why didn't you ever mention anything about that?" Bun couldn't keep himself from saying it.

And well, that was what Fumu had been thinking to herself too. Kabu had indeed predicted Kirby's arrival on this planet and had just mentionned that a Star Warrior would come to help them. He had never mentionned that it would also be a Demon Beast itself.

"YOU NEVER ASKED AND IT WASN'T RELEVENT."

"Not relevent? I think that knowing that our Star Warrior was also a pink Demon Beast of sorts would have helped avoid a lot of problems." It was usually not a very good idea to get angry at Kabu, mostly because it didn't do any good but she couldn't help it. He had called that information irrelevent? If they had known all along instead of learning it now-

"I NEVER SAID THAT KIRBY WOULD BE PINK."

Silence.

Both children stared at the great stone entity...

"You what?"

"I SAID THAT A STAR WARRIOR, WHOSE TRUE NAME IS 'KIRBY OF THE STARS', WOULD ARRIVE ABOARD A SPACESHIP TO SAVE DREAMLAND. I NEVER SPECIFIED IT WAS PINK."

The two children stared at each others and then back at the giant figure...

"Kabu, the Star Warrior who crashlanded on our planet and protected us, he was Kirby right? I mean, that is his name!"

"I NEVER SPECIFIED THAT KIRBY OF THE STARS WOULD CRASHLAND ON THIS PLANET, ONLY THAT HE WOULD ARRIVE ABOARD A SPACESHIP."

That was starting to get increasingly confusing. Bun decided that this was making his head hurts and tried to come up with a question that would get him a clear answer.

"The pink Star Warrior, he's a Demon Beast, right?"

"YES."

"The blue Star Warrior, he's a Demon Beast too?"

"CORRECT."

"But the pink one, he is called Kirby, right?"

"YOU GAVE HIM THIS NAME, I DIDN'T. I MERELY STATED THAT THE STAR WARRIOR 'KIRBY OF THE STARS' WOULD ARRIVE ON THIS PLANET ABOARD A SPACESHIP."

Fumu and her brother were not sure what to say or ask anymore. Kirby and Meta Knight... both were Star Warriors, both had the same nature as Demon Beasts, the same powers, both arrived on a spaceship... As Kirby had crashlanded not long after they had consulted Kabu regarding the prophecy, everyone had assumed the pink Star Warrior to be the one that the stone entity had spoken about. After all, he was a Star Warrior, he had arrived in a spaceship, and he did help and save them. That meant he was Kirby, right? Everyone had aknowledged it after all...

... but at this moment, both realized that the description also applied to the other puffball. He, too, had arrived in a spaceship. He even was the same, looked the same, had the same powers, was a Star Warrior... They also realized an obvious fact that had been staring them in the face since the very first day.

Meta Knight was not much of a name.

No. This was too much. They... they should have asked about something else. That was too farfetched. It just was.

"Kabu, what of Marx the Demon Beast? Why did it attack Dreamland? Is it out of revenge for what we did to Nightmare?"

There was a pause and then, the answer came.

"I DO NOT KNOW OF A DEMON BEAST CALLED MARX."

Oh. That was bad news. Bun and Fumu had matching expressions. "So you don't know anything about Marx."

But to Fumu's surprise, Kabu replied to Bun's remark.

"I DO KNOW OF A BEING CALLED MARX. BUT HE IS A CHIMERA, A CREATION OF THE DARK MATTER COLLECTIVE, NOT A DEMON BEAST."

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><p><strong>TO BE CONTINUED...<strong>


	7. Emptiness

**OFF:** This one is actually quite short but on another hand, this is a rather important chapter and one I really hope I pulled off well. So well, here goes.

_to Lunara the Ara:_ Glad you found the last chapter to be good. Always nice to see people appreciating the story. I'm also kind of surprised that someone would want to make fan-stuff of my own fic. I guess I should feel honored. Well, I hope you'll enjoy this chapter as much as you enjoyed the last one.

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><p><strong>HONOR THE PAST<strong>

CHAPTER 5:  
>Emptiness<p>

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><p>How many years of repressed fear, shame, and hatred lies within the round subject refered to as Meta Knight? Although he had not been designed to care about this particular type of detail, the Nightmare replica could not help but be amused and slightly amazed at the sheer strength of the pufball's emotional distress. The reports made from the collective's observation did stress how damaged the Star Warrior's mind but to see it for himself was a whole different story from just reading the file.<p>

The replica had been careful at first, generating small hollow stars to make it appear as if he had the same star pattern on his cape as the real Nightmare. Likewise, he would appear to the blue puffball from the shadows so that it would not become obvious that his cape was not fully solid. But as he taunted the child and lured it closer and closer to the Fountain of Dreams, it became obvious that he would not catch on. His grief, his shame, his hatred was too strong for him to care. Having been exposed, the foolish gumball believed it had lost everything and poured all of its energy solely into its obsessive hatred.

Although he was not designed to appreciate his surroundings, the Nightmare replica could not help but admit that the child was far more messed-up than it was to not notice its surroundings to such a point. The Star Warrior had charged through the lands, barely pausing, almost never resting, killing and devouring on its way without a care, its pursuit never ending. It had not noticed that it had been led far from the beaten path, far into the hidden depths of Pop Star.

He was a mere individual unit in the Dark Matter Collective and yet, even he could notice the alien, ethereal surroundings that characterized the lands surrounding the Fountain of Dreams. It was a sacred place, long sought out by the Dark Matters, a place long hidden from anyone. Light seemed to curve in the skies above this land, an endless night reigning over the strange landscape. The ground was reflective, as if made of a mirror-like substance, rainbows reflecting, forming, fading everywhere in a never-ending dance of swirling gentle stars. Most probably, an individual with proper feelings and a proper personality would be awed by this but the Nightmare replica just noted the appearance of this place.

Its purpose was accomplished. With the blue puffball led to the Fountain of Dreams, he could now teleport away and report back to the command unit. Everything had went as Marx had predicted, just as usual. In a way, it was almost disappointing but then, this was all a testament to the relevence of the reports and to Marx's intelligence.

The corrupted dream called upon the powers that its half-Dark Matter nature bestowed upon it and then, unleashed its power. The replica vanished in a flash of light, the teleportation sending it far from the blue puffball. But the child had already run up to the Fountain of Dreams so the replica's presence was now superfluous...

Meta Knight stood before the great structure, his vision blurry. His mouth quivered and his tiny paw shook as it gripped the handle of the sacred blade. Flames covered the sword and he could feel the legendary weapon's energy coursing through his body, reacting negatively with his feelings, burning him. But he did not care. He did not care for the blurry vision, did not even realize that it was because he had been crying the entire way. He felt numb, only the sheer rage moving his body, burning it just as Galaxia's power did.

He would never leave him alone. Nightmare will never leave him alone.

His taunts had been constant, each more breaking than the last. He had screamed, sobbed, begged him to go away and he hadn't, he never would.

Why did he pursue him then?

He wanted him to go away. If he destroyed him then he would be gone. It was a simple thing, really.

Everyone hated him, everyone feared him. He was a failure, a monster, nothing but an abomination. He had failed everyone, absolutely everyone. He could do nothing right. He hated himself, hated everything that he was. And Kirby... if Kirby was a Demon Beast... then maybe he deserved to die after all. Maybe it was just karma. Maybe it was truly useless to resist. Not that he cared. While he hated Nightmare, he didn't hate himself. It didn't make him feel better but it allowed him to forget the looks of horror that had been on everyone's faces, to forget Jecra's screams of pain, to forget Arthur yelling at him, to forget Kirby crying out in agony and death, to forget Marx's sneering, cackling face. Nightmare was evil, is evil itself. Who will complain if he hate him, if he kill him?

He saw the great fountain, the great sacred structure. It was massive, clear water leaking slowly from it, a stream of yellow and blue stars, dreams and nightmares respectively, gently flowing from the waters. The Star Rod, the source of all dreams, was on the top of the fountain, the very nexus itself.

He could sense him. He could sense the way the nightmares converged, the way the power flowed. Galaxia burnt his paw, the power flowing into his veins, setting his nerves ablaze. Evil was within this fountain. He will destroy it. He will destroy it all, burn it all.

He leaped on the edges of the fountain and looked into the pond. He could see the deep waters within, the gentle flows of energy. He could see the small blue stars gathered into a crude sphere, the dark emperor's infant form slowly reforming from his recent defeat. The power was slight, faint and yet it offended Meta Knight to the very core. Its power was a cold, chilling caress and yet, it made him almost want to throw up. He hated him, hated him with all of his heart. He wanted to kill him, to kill him once and for all, for him to leave him alone.

"Meta Knight?" the voice of the dark emperor, so weak and without echo, a slight confusion within.

How did he find the source? How come a living soul found the Fountain of Dreams? It didn't matter. Meta Knight gripped the handle of Galaxia so hard the blood almost drained from his limb, a surge of holy power bringing renewed pain to his entire body. As his entire frame shook, the blue puffball's heart filled with blank, focused, consumate hatred.

"You will not do it. You cannot do it." The arrogance in the emperor's voice made the puffball's white eyes narrow. He was so sick of that voice tone, so sick and tired of it. He had heard it so many times and he just can't stand it anymore. He could just imagine the renewed smirk, the stupid grin as the self-important self-declared dark lord thought himself so smart, so magnificient.

He's not magnificient, he's not even smart. If he was so powerful, so invincible then how come he died like a pig? If he's so smart, how come his forces took so long to overcome the Galactic Star Soldier army? He was never clever or even intelligent even in his terror schemes. Oh yeah, rule through fear or what not. He's just a worthless bully with a big cape, a stupid-looking helmet, and a goofy grin. He hate him, hate him so much.

"You... you wouldn't do it. I am your creator! I am the dark lord!" The panic in Nightmare's voice brought the Demon Beast a feeling of almost excathic pleasure. The very thought of the dark emperor's grin being reversed gave Meta Knight's strength, turned his deep frown into a maniacal grin. His eyes had a murderous glint and he wished for nothing but for him to vanish.

He raised Galaxia above his body, gripping it with both limbs. Just how much had Nightmare destroyed, just how many people had he killed? Frankly, Meta Knight couldn't care less. All he knew was that his entire life had just been torture, trauma after trauma, watching everyone either scared of him, disgusted of him, or dying horribly before his eyes. Love, happiness? He had been denied those, no thanks to that stupid self-important dark lord and his organization. The NME... a company that sell monsters? Seriously? That is Nightmare's idea of a clever cover? He's as bloody stupid as he is evil!

"NO! YOU CAN'T! YOU MUSTN'T!"

He dived into the waters and swung. His hatred flared, deep crimson flames errupting from the sacred blade as he put all of his strength into the attack. It almost looked as if large trails of blood were flying off of the sword as he slammed the holy blade straight into the Fountain of Dreams's central pillar. Dreams shattered, bits of stone flew as the blade tore through it.

"Stop! I order you to STOP! Don't you realize what you are DOING?"

Nightmare's pleas for him to stop were music to his ears. He swung harder, found himself wanting to cackle despite the water that surrounded him. He swung at everything, at everything he could find. Massive cracks appeared on the pond's edges as he damaged them, causing the waters to start pouring out in ways it wasn't meant to. The central pillar, seriously damaged, tipped over, the Star Rod barely remaining in its intended spot. He caught Nightmare with a few of the strikes, causing the blue stars that made him up to errupt into red energy as he seemed to catch on fire while underwater.

"YOU ARE KILLING ME! YOU ARE KILLING ME! HAVE YOU WENT COMPLETELY MAD!"

The last slash tore a massive bit of the Fountain of Dreams, causing it to fall off and slam into the ground loudly. The supporting pillar of the structure tipped, the entire nexus shifting to the right. The waters were now tearing their ways out of the damaged fountain, leaking all over the place, looking like jets of black blood, dreams and nightmares mixing to form a sickly purple goo within the currents. Meta Knight emerged from the waters as he swung. He didn't feel better. The more he swung, the more it hurts. It was as if Galaxia's spikes had changed location to the handle and repeatedly stung and burnt him. Yet he didn't stop, didn't want to stop. Even if it hurts, he wanted Nightmare gone. Nothing else mattered. Everything else that had mattered to him had been taken away from him.

"I WON'T BE DENIED! I CANNOT BE DENIED BY A REBELLIOUS FAILURE! I... I..." Nightmare's rage faded as his form begun to break down. The very Fountain of Dreams begun to break down from the abuse, more and more of its pieces falling.

He swung at the central pillar again. And this time, it was over. The entire fountain tipped to the side and crashed on its side, the waters flowing out in a disordered manner, forming a small, dirty river. The Star Rod fell from its pedestal and splashed into the dirty waters, washed away nearby, its glow fading as the connection broke. Nightmare's form, unable to fight the currents, found itself washed out of the broken fountain, left to lie on the ground in a broken heap.

Emerging from the ruins, the blue puffball glared daggers at the form of the so-called dark emperor. He looked weak, pathetic, like some kind of beached whale with its faceless shape, half-formed and torn cape, the blue stars inside not even fully formed into the static that should form his core. His hands were not even formed yet and the emperor found itself trying to crawl away in a desesperate attempt to save itself from its vengeful creation, dragging itself on the wet grass with what little stumps it had for limbs.

The Star Warrior felt... felt so dizzy. Destruction surrounded him, purple mud covered his feet, and he found himself feeling so... so sad. As the burning rage died down, the child found itself consumed by an infinite void, a hollow sadness that gripped his tiny heart. So lonely, so sad, in such pain, Galaxia burning him, everything burning him...

"Why... why did you do this to me? Why? Why? What did I do to deserve this?"

Nightmare didn't seem to hear him. He had to find a hiding place, to save itself from that insane Demon Beast.

"I... I didn't hate you. All... all I wanted was to be happy. Why... why did you take everything from me?"

The silence was just as breaking as the horrible destruction that surrounded him. He couldn't stand it. So he did the only thing he could think of doing. He ran through the mud and slammed a foot straight into Nightmare's cape, swinging Galaxia into position, the tip almost touching the amalgam of nightmares within.

"Don't do it! Don't kill me! Don't kill me!" Even hearing Nightmare beg for his life didn't make him happier. He just felt so... so empty, so sad. Why? Why had Nightmare done this to him?

"Why?"

"Who cares about you! You want to know? Well, it's because I can! Now let go! That's an order!"

Nightmare... had never cared? He never had a reason to do all of this stuff? He only did it out of pure selfishness and boredom?

Hatred. It came back, much stronger than before. It had all been for nothing. It had all been a joke. Nightmare had murdered all those people solely because he could. He had bullied everyone just because it was funny. He had brought such pain and death just because it amused him. And at that moment, Meta Knight found himself with only one thought, only one solution.

He jammed the blade straight into the dark emperor's core. The scream of agony was rather subdued and weak, more like a gasp than a real scream. The body trashed impotently underneath the blue puffball, looking like an oversized, headless fish for a moment. Red flames flared, splashing all over Meta Knight's face, making it feel like he was catching on fire as the embodiment of darkness died underneath.

For all of the prophecy regarding Nightmare's defeats at the end of every cycle, his final death was an anticlimatic one. He died, helpless and weak, trashing and wailing in protest at the hands of his own minion, broken in such a way that even his usual powers couldn't save him. With the Fountain of Dreams wrecked, there was nowhere for his soul to go back to, no way for him to call upon the fear of the universe that empowered him. As Galaxia burnt the dark emperor, only the cold void of true death welcomed him, ending his dreams of universal domination once and for all, his body dissolving into nothingness leaving only silence.

It had been no great victory, no triumph. The blue puffball staggered back, feeling so tired, so completely exhausted. His feet failed him and he found himself falling. He sat, back against a piece of the ruined Fountain of Dreams, his body shivering incontrollably as he felt the mud he was in, the dirty, corrupted water flowing beneath him. His grip on the sacred blade gave away and he found himself, sitting alone, surrounded by a scene of horror and destruction he himself created, the Star Rod just in front of him, dirtied and powerless.

He didn't feel any better. In fact, he didn't feel good at all. With the rage now gone, with Nightmare now dead, he was left with only his sadness, his shame, the knowledge that everyone hated him and that he had nowhere to go home to, no one to care about what he did or who he is. He was utterly, totally alone.

Meta Knight sobbed incontrollably. Who cares if Nightmare is gone for good? He... he only wants a home, friends. He doesn't even have parents, never had. He thought of Fumu and Bun, probably at their home, with their parents, maybe having a warm meal, with their parents hugging them to show their love from time to time. He thought of the way the Dreamlanders spoke, of the way they would talk, of friends discussing, of children playing. He found himself even missing his knaves, the way they'd try to joke with him and maybe play cards at times, keeping him company.

Having completely run out of energy, the blue puffball closed his eyes and allowed sleep to claim him...

* * *

><p>The black-haired figure stared at the screen, his single red eye expressing a vaguely bored look from behind the visor. The screen was currently empty and in the next few seconds, he would finally learn if relying on that self-important jester had been a good idea to begin with.<p>

The seconds finally went out and as planned, the screen lit up revealing the figure of Marx on the other end. Seems he held up that part of the bargain. Now to see if his plans proceeded according to his predictions or if he'll be scheduled for immediate recycling...

"Individual Chimera unit Marx reporting, command unit Dark Reaper." said the creature, closing his eyes and bowing before the screen in a gesture of submission to the black caped figure.

"Is the deed done?" he had no patience for such petty protocols though. They were silly procedures to make the lower-ranked, less efficient units feel more comfortable. High-level units in the collective such as himself and Marx should not have to bother with such gestures and that the jester bothered annoyed the supreme leader unit.

"I have received the report from the replica. The original has been terminated. Permanently."

Turn out that he had been right to trust the jester after all. "Your performance honor the collective. Prepare for the plan's final phase."

"We exist to serve, command unit." the screen's display faded back to nothingness.

The black-haired figure turned away from the great screen and looked to the massive black pools that were to each side of the throne room. While they looked like big stains of slime to the untrained, ignorant eye, the figure knew very well what the two pools truly were. "Bring the host body to the throne."

A rumbling sound was heard as masses of black spheres emerged from the pool, the lower-ranked Dark Matters emerging to complete the command issued by the command unit. The throne room's massive doors were pushed open as the black spheres flew and crawled out.

A short moment passed and then a massive rumbling sound came. A moment later, the various Dark Matters entered the room again pushing a massive stasis cell forward. The great machine was moved all the way to the center of the room and then, carefully, one of the spheres approached the control panel on the machine and punched in the command codes. Recognizing the access code, the machine slowly drained of liquid and then split in two, its content released.

Black tentacle-like limbs grabbed the lifeless shell by its red feet, dragging it on the floor. The black-haired command unit stared as the servant-level units dragged the shell up the stairs and to the throne before turning it so it would be lying on its back.

At this moment, the black-haired figure stepped in front of the shell and turned to the mass of his minions. Standing tall and proud, his cape flowing from the brief, freezing breeze that came from the opened throne room doors, his gaze pierced through the mass of one-eyed spheres. "The time has come! Dark Matter Collective, hear me! Relay the message to all units, to all drones! May our minds join! May we become one! And may the void hear our call! Today, the conditions are finally right, the stars aligned, the cosmic order prepared! The collective call for its master!"

Through the link that united every Dark Matter, that united every Chimera together, the supreme command unit broadcasted his call.

"We crave for the presence of the master! To be awed by his glory!"

The command echoed inside of every one-eyed sphere's mind but also inside of their hearts. So long had been the wait, millenia-long had been the plans. Finally, what which they desire could come to pass and the passion flared inside of every heart, calling to each of the others.

The echo was incredible, the shockwave all-encompassing. Inside of every mind, inside of every heart connected to the self-aware darkness came the call. To call to the void, to look into the abyss, to embrace the desire. The psychic call was weak at first, coming from only the individuals inside of a single location, far from the known worlds... but soon, the psychic echo increased exponentially, moving like an explosion through the entire universe. Every mind flared together as the eons-old plan came to fruiton.

The very universe shuddered feeling the ripples. The destruction of the Fountain of Dreams and the death of the Darkness had created a massive, open wound in the very fabric of reality. Existence itself stilled itself, like a beating heart that slowed down. Through the empty eyes of the dead, an ancient and terrible power older than existence itself looked at the lone eye of its black-haired minion and heard the call of all of its children. The time had indeed come.

The very universe contracted in protests, the very laws of physics refusing to accept the presence. It was an unwelcome power, a power that didn't exist and wasn't meant to. It wasn't a darkness like that of Nightmare, it wasn't a power that existed opposite to Light. It was more like a lack of Light, a lack of existence, a concept that was contrary to the very nature of reality itself, a paradox that couldn't be.

"We crave to be in your presence, master. Please, come to us. Come to the universe, to reality, to life." for the first time in millenia, emotion slipped through the black-haired monster, his lone eye staring lovingly at the lifeless shell.

The universe denied it existence, banished the power. It was not welcome among the living or even the dead. It would not be allowed life. It just wouldn't be.

But the wound was a gaping one. With the death of Nightmare, the universe stood on the very edge, its very fabric unstable. The power saw the opening and slipped in. Darkness poured through the gaping void. The universe contracted, tried to expulse the power but it was no use. It slipped in, poured into the wound like salt, burning into the very timeline, forcing itself inside.

The dead stirred, the shell stirred. And before the awed eyes of the entire Dark Matter Collective, the lifeless one opened his eyes and breathed in, his heart beating anew.

The entire collective was in awe as, at long last, their master rose. The master's eyes slowly opened and then, he brought a paw in front of his face. The lord of darkness's expression slowly turned to a grin.

But then, suddenly, the master flinched. He staggered back, his eyes turning from blue to blood red. He grasped his lower half, eyes bulging, bulging... and then, with a sickening pop, the right eye fell from its orbit, leaving a gaping, bloody hole.

The collective had hoped it wouldn't happen but guessed that forcing unlimited, infinite power into a limited body had to have negative side-effects. Silently, many of the black spheres surrounded their master and cleaned the body, removing the blood that covered its skin, putting large bandages on its head to cover and seal the gaping hole that had once been an eye. But although the master's shaking and bleeding stopped quickly, the left eye did not return to its original blue color.

"Master... are you alright?" He could see the various spheres gathering, his second-in-command speaking to him with emotion. On one hand, this was atypical of the command unit, on another hand, it was true that this was a great event. So he decided to take note of it.

"I will adapt. I have watched you as you followed my whispers. The plans that you have created are adequate. I see no need for modifications. Good job."

The black-haired figure's lone eye stared into the face of its master. The dark lord did not issue compliments lightly and as such, the figure bowed down, showing how honored he felt. The master nodded and then turned to the mass of minions waiting for his command. But it was then that he felt the unease in his second-in-command.

"I know of your thoughts."

"If I may be as so bold as to ask... what is your plans regarding him? My intellect has failed me regarding this particular factor." asked the black-haired figure in an apologizing tone.

The master smirked. "You will be told in time. For now, keep the contact line between our base and Pop Star active. We will require Marx's contributions a bit more than initially planned..."

* * *

><p>The darkness was total. Although it was always night in this part of the planet nighttime did not help at all. One could barely see, with only the cones of light from the flashlights illuminating the strange location. It was such an alien place, all of black glass and transluceant rainbows. Bits and pieces of debris could be seen everywhere and rivers of sickly, polluted waters could be seen, broken fragments flowing within.<p>

Fumu was among those who were searching. She didn't care if it was past her bedtime, way past it. Adrenaline kept her awake as did worry. The trail had been easy to follow, there had been so much destruction it was impossible to lose it. What could have caused this?

And finally, it was then that she found him.

"M... Meta Knight!"

He looked absolutely awful. Covered in bruises and in dirt, cheeks stained by tears, sitting with his back resting against a giant piece of stone debris, shivering in the cold mud as he tried to sleep, the once beautiful Galaxia sword laying near him, half-burried in the dirty waters.

She ran up to him, almost dropping her flashlight, shaking him awake. "Meta Knight! Are you alright? Answer me!"

White eyes turned almost red from sobbing opened. A plaintive moan came from the child, as if not completely conscious. He felt so awful, so cold... and he didn't even care. But in his vision, he saw a figure. While everything was but darkness, the figure stood before him, shaking him, calling his name, the faint source of light it was carrying making it stand out.

It was then that he realized that it was Fumu. His gaze finally focused and he barely knew what to say, what to think...

"F-Fumu...?" he whispered, not feeling any strength in his body, physical or mental.

"Thank goodness you're alive!" her expression seemed to turn to hesitation. She wanted so much to yell at him for running away like this, to scream at him about how worried he had made her... but seeing how pitiful he looked, knowing how badly Marx had humiliated him, she couldn't find the strength. The blue puffball looked so miserable, she just wanted to hug it, to bring it back home, to make it feel better somehow.

But then, he looked away from her. "Why does it matter? No one cares about me. Besides... they must all hate and fear me now..."

"What are you talking about?" the sheer emotion in her voice startled the blue child, causing him to look at her in surprise. "We were all worried sick! We've been searching for you for days!"

"You... you... you were searching for me?"

Then his eyes wandered and he saw the young girl getting back to her feet, motionning. He saw lights within the darkness, so many lights...

He recognized the figures of Fumu's brother, Bun, running to her side now, and their parents, calling to the others. He could see his knaves on one side and also Knuckle Joe. The lad motionned and he saw Silica arrive as well. And they were not the only ones. Figures of Cappies... so many. He could recognize the doctor, Chef Kawasaki, the unfrozen mayor... so many figures, so many people...

"They... all came... for me?"

He saw them, all gathering around him. Some were angry, others worried but on all faces, he saw obvious relief... relief at... at finding him safe. They had all been worried... for him. All had been... caring for him.

Tears swelled up in the fallen knight's eyes. As he saw all of those people who cared for him, he did not know what to do. The emotion, the feelings... they overwhelmed him, made him unable to think, unable to move. All he could do was sniffle, feeling himself starting to cry again. He was surrounded by some many who cared for him... by so many... friends...

"Here here... it's over. Please don't cry." one of the adults said, carefully lifting him out of the mud.

"I still wonder what happened here..." Silicia couldn't help but wonder still.

"Whatever happened, it will be for later. Let's go home." She could see Fumu's point. Yes, it was time to go home...

* * *

><p>The blue puffball in the mirror looked back to him and Meta Knight looked back to the child.<p>

He had... so many friends. Friends... he liked that word. He rolled it in his mind, thinking of it.

He hadn't really been injured, not physically anyway. He had mostly needed to get that dirt off him and that had been all. The whole situation had shocked him thoroughly. He had... never thought it would end this way. He never thought they'd react that way.

All his life, he had lived in Nightmare's shadow, believed that as a Demon Beast, he dogged his every step and that he would need to hide it all away, to throw away who he was and instead live as a Star Warrior to have any hope of having a decent life. After all, as a Demon Beast, he was a monster, the same kind who served Nightmare. The victories of the NME over the Galactic Star Soldier force, the death of his friends had only served to drive home how horrifying Demon Beasts were and how important it had been for him to throw away who he is.

But now... it didn't matter.

He had thought that killing Nightmare would change things, that it would end things. That once the dark emperor would be gone, so would be his influence. But even though the dark emperor was now finally gone for good, the blue puffball stared back in the mirror. He was very much alive, he was very much the same as before. Nothing had changed and yet... Nightmare is gone.

Nightmare had not done this to him. He hadn't been the one who had made everyone fear him or that had made him feel ashamed of himself. He was pure evil, he had killed so many people, unleashed all those monsters... but that never had any effect on him proper. Despite his origins, the dark emperor never had a hold on him to begin with.

The sacred blade Galaxia... as far as he could remember, it had never really hurt him. He had always been able to safely wield it when everyone had told him that those tainted with hatred, those with no hope, those who were under Nightmare's control could never touch it without being shocked or burnt. Yet despite being a Demon Beast, he had wielded it for as long as he could remember.

And of course, there were all those people, all his... friends.

They had been scared at first, they hadn't hid it. The revelation that he was a Demon Beast and that, by extension, so was Kirby had shocked them to the very core. But despite all of the years spent being terrorized and bullied by the creations of Nightmare, they had accepted him. They had not been upset that he had lied about his age, his appearance, or his origins. They had looked to him, embraced him. He was their friend and it was all that had ever mattered to them.

And of course, this made him think of his counterpart, Kirby.

The blue puffball was identical to the pink one except for color. Without the heavy armor and the large cape on, he looked so young, so innocent, so adorable. Just like Kirby. A child...

He was a child. He had forgotten it from pretending to be an adult for such a long time.

He had sit down so many times, watching Kirby having fun... and then it made him think of all those kids who had offered him to play with them.

Friends... he... he had always wanted friends. He remembered the way he and Jecra had once been friends. It had... been some of the happier moments he had remembered. But he also remembered his own moments with Kirby and he felt... happy too.

But now that he thought about it, now that he faced this emptiness that had been inside him for so long, he saw the blue child in the mirror and couldn't help but wonder. Whenever Fumu, Bun, Knuckle Joe, Silica, Blade, or just about anyone stared at that image, it was Meta Knight that they saw, the one he truly was. But... whenever he looked at that mirror, what he saw was a Kirby lookalike that he couldn't truly recognize. He... he just couldn't bring himself to be that puffball. Why?

It made him think of Kirby again but in a different way. Why had he been watching him so much, more exactly? It wasn't to protect him, it was all a lie. It had all been a lie, like that mask. No, Nightmare is gone, he doesn't have an excuse anymore. Fumu is right, he was dumb to do that.

So... why?

His vision blurred, emotion surfacing. For a moment, the child was confused. Why was he so... so sad all of a sudden? He wasn't remembering something in particular.

But then he remembered the loneliness. He knew he was lonely but what of the images? Why was he lonely? Why was he suddenly so sad, thinking of Kirby playing with his friends, of Kirby stuffing himself without a care in the world, of him running and bouncing all over the place without a mask, feeling the breeze, living without shame, not having to hide his identity, or pretend to be something he wasn't, or... or... or...

Those kids had offered him to play with them and it made him think of all those times he had watched Kirby play with them...

... dreaming it was him playing with them, dreaming he was him having fun, dreaming he was the one being happy.

And at this moment, it finally fell into place. All of the tears, all of the supressed memories, all of the shame, he finally understood it all.

He had never wanted to be a Star Warrior. He didn't want to uphold any duties. He didn't want to be an adult. He didn't want to constantly have to hide his face or act like a knight when he truly couldn't care less. What he had truly wanted all along was just to be happy, to be allowed to be himself. And he had used Kirby for it, projected his own dreams into him. Rather than live himself, he had simply hidden in the shadow of his own shame and dreamt of Kirby.

Nightmare was not the source of the darkness that had consumed him for such a long time. It was the mask he had worn for such a long time. It was Meta Knight who had destroyed who he is.

Meta Knight... what kind of name was that anyway? It wasn't a name. It was just a designation. Just like that of a Demon Beast's. Just a throwaway nickname you give to a faceless, masked knight who has no future, no life.

The blue puffball gripped the handle of the sacred blade. He had not noticed it before but without his gloves on, the handle reacted with his tiny limb. He could feel the power surge through his mind and he saw small, orange flames swirling and covering the entire blade. It seemed to speak into his heart and somehow, it felt right. He wasn't wearing his armor, his mask, he did not have the attire of a Star Warrior... and yet, somehow, for the first time, he felt like the sword was truly aknowledging him.

It had glowed so brightly when he had used its power...

He left the sword on the floor again and turned to the mirror. He had remained in darkness for so long. He had been Meta Knight for so long. Could he be anything else? Did he even have a real name? Meta Knight was all he knew, all he remembered. Had Nightmare given him a name? If so, he had long forgotten it and in a way, it would have probably been just as meaningless as any other Demon Beast's. Arthur was the one who had called him Meta Knight. It was a name he didn't want anymore.

Mety...

It was a silly name. It was a name he had come up for himself when he had put on that other mask, the one made of paint. But it was his. He had thought up of it and the people had quickly come to call him by it whenever they saw him disguised. Maybe... maybe...

There was that shadow again in the mirror. That darkness that whispered to him, that reminded him of his cursed nature. Who cares if everyone accepted it or if Nightmare was gone? He has always been and will forever be a worthless, disgusting monster.

It wasn't Nightmare. He wasn't the reason. He was dead anyway, for good now. So he focused and his memories stirred. Who... who used to tell him that?

Arthur snarled at him louder, his gaze filled with hatred and disgust, his glove shaking, eyes flashing menacingly behind the visor. Hide the face! Forget your origins! Accept your fate, for your salvation lies within! Stop your whining! Be thankful to be alive to begin with, monstrous Demon Beast swine! Dying a honorable death is the best you can ever hope for! What am I saying, with such a lack of honor and such laziness, you won't even get that!

That was all he had been told. For countless years, all he had been given was hatred, scoldings. He had heard of love, he had heard that the Galactic Star Soldier force had been created to protect the Light, life. He had never been allowed to even approach such things. Why should he be allowed happiness, he who had a tainted nature? His very existence was an insult to the Light!

And then he thought of Kirby.

It was funny. He had not been taught honor, he had not been taught duty, he had not been given a mask. He hadn't fought because it was his destiny but because he had wanted to protect his friends, to protect their happiness. He had been the chold he was meant to be, playing with people, being happy. He had also indeed protected Dreamland, fought off the Demon Beasts, destroyed Nightmare.

Kirby was as he is. Round, with blushes, innocent eyes, the same limbs, the same power, and even the same youth. The only difference was that one was blue and had been taught honor by Arthur, he other was pink and was stuffed on a starship in hopes that he'd wake up an adult and only know war. Kirby could have been a Demon Beast too and it wouldn't have changed a thing. No one had cared, he hadn't either. He was himself and that was all that counted.

The blue puffball froze.

He should have been the one to protect Dreamland all along.

He had been allowed to remain awake, to learn the ways of the sword, unlike Kirby who had been sealed in a starship. He had the sword Galaxia, bane of all evil. He... he should have protected them. All of them.

He had let them down. All of them. Because he was ashamed. Kirby hadn't been ashamed. Why should he have been? It would have certainly sounded silly if he had tried to tell Kirby to hide his face like he did.

The child froze again.

His very shame was silly to begin with.

It didn't matter. It had never mattered. But he had let it control his life, destroy his happiness, drove him to throw away whoever he could have been to become Meta Knight, the false knight who didn't protect anyone and was never happy. He shouldn't have become Meta Knight, he shouldn't have let people down.

He... he wanted to protect everyone. He wanted to be happy too. He... he was sick of the mask. So sick of the mask, sick of letting people die, sick of being controlled by that shadow in the mirror.

The Star Rod... and Galaxia...

"Demon Beast! You will never be anything more than a Demon Beast!" Arthur snarled, Meta Knight glaring at the blue puffball.

He gripped the handle of the sacred blade again. Kirby wouldn't have wanted him to be so sad if he had known. They all want to be happy. He want to be happy. And he will protect them. He won't hide anymore.

"No."

Meta Knight glared at the insolant puffball. Who was he to think he could be happy, that Galaxia belonged to him, a simple Star Warrior among any others, and especially one with tainted blood? A disgrace! Like his friend, Jecra! The idiot who had a life before he joined the Galactic Star Soldier force, rather than have been stuffed on a starship as a child so he'd know nothing but war!

"Put that mask on!" barked Arthur, his gaze drilling through the infant Star Warrior.

"Who will I be then? Mety? Meta Knight is the only name fitting of a being such as me. Of a faceless Star Warrior among any others."

Mety had more than enough of Meta Knight. He had a lifetime of that fool and his shame.

"No. Never again. You're done controlling me."

"Cover your face, Meta Knight! NOW!" Arthur's voice turned menacing.

Mety gripped Galaxia with all of his strength. "My name is Mety!"

CLAANG!

The mask fell straight off of the hangbar it had been hanged to, the two halves singed hot from the flaming slash from the sacred blade. The blue puffball panted as he watched the burnt edges of the mask cool off, the infernal thing broken...

It was a simple thing to grab his cape and tear it into pieces. He couldn't believe he had ever worn that! It looked so tacky and that blue color clashed so badly with the armor's own color that he couldn't believe it. Who had chosen that color anyway? And why would a knight need a cape anyway? Kind of get in the way of one's movements anyway.

Those shoulder pads were ridiculous. Really, heightened like that? It looked like the blacksmith who had made them had botched the job and tried to stretch them to cover his goofs. Those gloves are just too big for him. He feels like his limbs are floating in rough, incomfortable fabric when wearing those anyway.

As he was done putting all of that stuff into the garbage can in his room, Mety placed Galaxia on his desk and then found himself suddenly exhausted. As he sat down on the floor, he couldn't help but feel like an immense weight had been lifted from his body. He felt... so light, so... relieved. He... he almost felt happy, satisfied. It was such a strange feeling.

The blue puffball looked at his own reflection in the mirror. For some reason, it felt so good to stop pretending. He just couldn't help but smile and well, it was kind of funny. He had never noticed it before but like Kirby, he had what seemed to be reflections in the bottom portion of his eyes. Well, except that Kirby's had been blue and hollow somehow. His own were yellow and filled, not unlike the stars that the Star Rod had once generated...

He found himself wondering about those children who had offered them to play with him. To say the truth, he found himself thinking to himself that, well, he'd really, really, really like to actually accept their offer. He wasn't sure if he'd do too well and well, he was feeling a bit... scared. It was so strange. He is a child. He's been telling himself he's an adult and trying to act like it for so long, it was kind of... absurd to actually look to himself in the mirror and just admit that this was the truth, that he's a kid.

He's hungry. No way around it either. He's been having so many wild dreams of meals and he's just been dying for a real, proper feast worthy of a young hungry puffball. And of course, there's his friends.

Will... will it really be that simple? He's scared, he admitted that too. And he admit he did stupid stuff. But... he guessed it was no use hiding anymore.

Mety got back to his feet, took a deep breath, and then finally left the darkness of his room. As he opened the door, the bright sunshine of daylight greeted him...

* * *

><p>No one had been really sure what to expect. Meta Knight had just locked himself into his room after what had happened. No one was really sure what had happened and they had not stressed the issue. Whatever had happened, it had been something significant. Still, why had the Star Rod been there? They guessed that they'd get the answer once Meta Knight finally came out.<p>

Knuckle Joe and Silica had chosen to remain for the time being. After the events with Box Boxer and Trollbot, it had become obvious that the new enemy was something serious and with this latest event, it was certain that Meta Knight would have much information. And well, seeing as the Star Rod had apparently been found, most certainly this had to be an important event.

Still, no one had expected what happened next.

Meta Knight did eventually come out of his room but rather than the masked knight they were all used to see, he came out wearing absolutely nothing. Just a blue puffball, walking with a youthful spring in his step, looking so light, so much like Kirby had been. It had taken everyone by surprise. He had not cared to cover himself in paint either.

He had noticed the crowd of worried people, looked around as if shy, and then looked at his feet for a moment before putting his limbs behind his back, looking like a guilty kid scared of being scolded. He periodically shot glances at the crowd, as if unable to come with something to say. Needless to say, this was... a radically different personna from what everyone expected of the noble knight they had come to know as Meta Knight.

"I,.." The blue puffball had no idea he'd crack so easily under the pressure. After all, hadn't he used his own, real voice as Mety before? Well, yes but that had been with paint on, still lying to them. Now, he was truly himself and he felt... really silly. Could they really take a kid seriously? Especially one who had lied to them for so much time, pretending to be some adult? "I'm sorry. Really, really sorry. For lying to all of you, for everything..."

Blade and Sword stared at their lord, incredulous. The elder brother was the first to speak... "Sir, you are without your mask..."

The shyness of the blue child faded a tiny bit as a little smile came to his face. He was very much aware of this fact, yes. "It's okay Blade. I don't need it anymore."

"Meta Knight..."

The infant Star Warrior's expression became serious for a moment as he looked to Silica and then to the crowd as a whole. It was time to finally admit everything. He found himself hesitating some more, drawing circles with one foot, his gaze wandering, his tiny heart pounding in his chest... but he managed to gather the will to continue. He was done with lies. All they brought to him was misery. It was time for truth.

"To tell the truth... I've been... thinking." he looked to the crowd. "About all that happened ever since I arrived on Pop Star, about my whole career as a Star Warrior, about Kirby, about everything. And well... I realize I lied to all of you when I shouldn't have."

"You don't need to blame yourself." he could see Knuckle Joe smiling. "I mean... a Demon Beast? That sure would have caused panic."

The blue puffball understood and knew what he was trying to do but he shook his head. He needed to finish, to tell them. "No, it wasn't alright. It didn't matter. I shouldn't have cared about it. Kirby was the same as I was and no one cared, no one even asked. But I was too busy lying to myself, too busy hiding behind my mask to care. So I lied to everyone, hid when I shouldn't have, and manipulated Kirby."

That last statement caused silence. He knew protests would come but he needed to say it once and for all. It was... making him so nervous. He sat down on the ground, needed to get ahold of his nerves. He had to say it, he had to continue or he knew he would lose the will to ever finish.

"I... I was never much of a knight. I was told be a knight because that I was monstrous, disgusting, and evil. That was what I was told and I believed it. I believed it so much that I lied to everyone about it. But now I realize... I never wanted to train Kirby. I never really trained him either. I... I just wanted to watch him. Sure, I'd claim I was thinking, investigating but the truth is, I hated being a knight. I'd ditch my duties to wander off, to sleep all over the place. I'd mock Kirby for being so hungry when I'm scarfing down on candy in secret in my room. I have at least fifteen jars hidden, by the way. Then I'd just sit down and watch him play because... because..."

He let it out before he choked up completely. "... because I wanted to be the one playing with the other kids, to be the one who had... friends."

Silence. The crowd stared silently, the protests now gone. Thoughts went through each of his friends as they looked to the little, shy blue puffball that stood before them. It was... so strange and yet, even now...

"So... all this time along, when you told us you were going to think, you were just ditching your duties? You were just bored?" Sword was even more incredulous than before.

Silica and Knuckle Joe stared at each others. This was starting to grow increasingly surreal. But then, at that moment, both begun to smile very much as a single fact came to light. They nodded to each others and then back to the blue child.

"Some kung-fu kid who use punching gloves as a weapon, a knight who is barely old enough to be a knave, the children of a penguin king's ministers, and two rookie knaves who never completed their training. And all this time along, we thought that you'd be the responsible adult in our ragtag bunch of misfits."

Mety looked at the two Demon Hunters as they spoke up. That... had not been the reaction he had been expecting.

"Now that you mention it, that's kind of funny!" It was Bun's turn to surprise the blue puffball. "Two puffballs identical in every way, with the blue one trying to act like an idiot when in truth he's bored out of his mind and just want to play with him in the first place. Quite the story..."

This was ridiculous but then, as Fumu saw how everyone was smiling and the unmasked Star Warrior's expression, she guessed it was good to finally relax and look at things the way they truly were. But still, she remembered what she had heard from Kabu. Both about Meta Knight and about Marx...

"Still, now what?"

It was a relevent question, what everyone had thought about. So she continued. "What do we do? Marx is still out there, up to no good."

"Nightmare is gone, for good this time. That was what I did at that place. I destroyed his source."

This caused some shock to the two Demon Hunters. But strangely enough, Fumu did not lose her seriousness and didn't seem surprised either.

"His source? What? So Nightmare's taunts were true?" Knuckle Joe had quite a bit of difficulty believing it.

"He's gone. Really gone now."

The girl was getting annoyed. Things were not over yet! She needed to tell them! "It doesn't matter!"

Silence. Everyone staring at her. The Demon Hunters smiling as she if she had said something stupid while the puffball simply stared in confusion.

"Hey, he's saying right here that he destroyed Nightmare for good. Do you realize what that means? The cycle is over! At long last, it's all over!" said Knuckle Joe.

But Fumu shook her head quickly. "No! That's what I mean! Marx serve another force! I asked Kabu and he's something called a Chimera, not a Demon Beast! We've been under attack from something called the Dark Matter Collective, not Nightmare!"

"The Dark what?" obviously, no one knew about them considering the total confusion she could read on every face.

There was a loud sigh and everyone looked to the blue puffball who had once again sat on the ground. For a moment, it seemed depressed, almost sad... but after a moment, it looked at its own paws, closed its eyes and when it reopened them, determination could be seen on its face. Mety sprung back to his feet, looking over everyone. He... he would do this. He... he can do this.

"I will take care of it."

"Meta Knight?"

"I'll take care of it." he repeated. "And please call me Mety. But I'll take care of it. I've... I've hidden in Kirby's shadow for such a long time when I shouldn't have, when I should have acted. Never again. This time, I'm going to do what I should have done all this time."

And then, Fumu was reminded of the other thing that Kabu had mentioned...

This time, she chose to remain silent.

Despite his initial determination, the child seemed to hesitate once more. His gaze rebecame evasive for a moment. "Well... if you'll let me."

It wasn't even a question. Of course, they would.

"We'll try to help in any way we can." said Silica, Knuckle Joe nodding in approval.

"Adult, child, Star Warrior, Demon Beast... whenever you are truly a knight or not does not matter. You are our lord, you have led us in times of darkness and doubt, never letting us down. I, Blade, and my brother Sword, reinforce our pledge to you, sir." went the green armored being, kneeling as the other did.

"You're our friend, Meta K... Mety. You've always been our friend. And it won't change anytime soon." said Fumu.

So many friends... it made the blue puffball happy. He didn't know if he'd be able to succeed where his counterpart had failed but he would try. At least, he would no longer have to live in shame, to lie to himself. He would live as always should have and try his best to finish what Kirby had started.

* * *

><p><strong>TO BE CONTINUED...<strong>


	8. The Tidal Wave

**OFF:** This one took quite a while to write, to say the truth and I'm a bit worried that it might move a bit too fast. But on another hand, the previous chapters have been progressively building up to this chapter and I have been looking forward quite a bit to writing it. I hope you will enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it!

_To starlight590:_ I guess. Oh and I think "some" might be an understatement all things considering. Thanks for reading and hope you enjoy this one too!

_To Hyenasaurus:_ Yes, I'm aware of the typos. Bad point of my writing, trying to improve when possible. As for Meta Knight, as said in a previous review's reply, got the idea from a few unexplained points and coincidences in canon. Oh and... well, Mety do happen to be a blue twin of Kirby who was hiding behind a mask all along. I think it's taken for granted that he'll be adorable. Oh and glad you liked Trollbot too!

_To Lunara the ara:_ Well, I'm rather weirded out by this turn of events. If you're truly serious about this... well, do you have a DA account? If so, it might be best to discuss things to see if this is truly a good idea. Still, glad you like the story enough to actually want to draw about it.

_To an admireing fanfic writer:_ I am glad you think so highly of the fanfic and is enjoying it so far. Regarding your question... read on and I think you will get your answer.

Enjoy!

* * *

><p><strong>HONOR THE PAST<strong>

CHAPTER 6:  
>The Tidal Wave<p>

* * *

><p>"P-Poooy...?"<p>

The blue gumball-like being stared intently, almost sadly, desire all over his face as he shifted incomfortably. To the left, to the right, squeezing his tiny body a bit then stretching slightly, then looking a bit more from the left again, with that same expression not leaving his face.

It didn't matter. No matter from what angle he looked at it, the pile of food still looked just as massive and delicious. It was making him so nervous and his growling stomach just wouldn't stop bothering him about it.

"You... you're sure it's all for me? That's... a lot of food!"

Apparently, Fumu was very serious about giving him that big pile of delicious meals that was twice his height. It wasn't that he didn't want to dig in but after years of pretending he wasn't hungry and of eating only what he needed in order to survive as to better hide his identity, it was quite the predicament.

"Well, puffballs do tend to get hungry quite a bit. When was the last time you didn't stuff yourself with candy in secret after a meal?"

That did it. The child's face turned bright red and both of his knaves burst into laughter despite their best efforts. Mety didn't know what was more embarassing about this. Was it the fact that he truly was as hungry as she claimed or the fact that she was completely right, now that he thought about it? Or was she? Surely, he didn't eat that much candy! Sure, Kirby ate all of those giant meals but he ate relatively normal meals, with just a little bit of candy to ease his hunger in-between different timesn of the day. He only ate a few jars after breakfast, then five jars after lunch, seven jars after...

Apparently, the blue puffball's expression betrayed his realization as Fumu smiled at him in an amused way. Well, considering he's now looking at his feet with his face a bright shade of red, it was quite hard not to notice anyway.

"It's okay. Besides, I thought it would be healthier if most of your diet wasn't made of candy. After all, it's not like you need to pretend anymore, right?"

"And to think that he'd scold us for hiding one or two rations when he was eating entire jars of-" Sword's musings were interrupted as he found himself with Blade's elbow slamming into his side.

Mety looked to the pile of food. So tempting, so delicious, so good-looking... and all for him? He... he was so hungry. He had grown so accustomed to being hungry and to just eating candy to suppress the urges that now that he had the opportunity to actually feed himself properly, it almost felt embarassing. But well, he guessed she had a point. It couldn't be good for him to eat tiny meals and to try to fill the gap with tons of candy.

The blue puffball's eyes focused, his left foot trembled slightly, his paws felt moist...

Well, she's right. He's not pretending anymore and he's hungry. He... he dreamt of massive meals, of stuffing himself. So he gave in. He approached the pile...

By the stars! Those watermelons look even more delicious up close! That meat look absolutely heavenly, the smell assaulting the child's senses. But he couldn't just inhale all this. That would be impolite. That would be...

He hadn't realized he was drooling. His knaves sure did and like before, Sword was more than glad to point it out. "Wow! He must really be hungry! Look at the way he's dr-OW!"

Sword rubbed his side just after Blade slammed his elbow into his side again. That was starting to look like a bad comedy routine or something!

As for Mety, it finally did it. He was hungry now. This food was for him. So he did the only logical thing.

Fumu had stepped to the side, knowing from experience with the blue puffball's counterpart what he would do. The gust of wind was rather powerful as Mety opened his mouth wide and gave in to his instincts for the first time in so many years he had stopped counting. He closed his eyes after a few seconds, emptying his mind of all worry and embarassment. It was kind of... crazy, ironic in a way. He had always told Kirby not to inhale food because he wouldn't taste it, because he needed to eat it slowly. Well, he had told Kirby a few times and stopped when it became obvious the pink child wouldn't listen. But now that he was doing it... the feeling of each food item squeezing through his lips, the textures, the warmth and cold feeling of each individual food item, the different tastes... they all blended to form a dizzyingly heavenly, almost estatic symphony of taste. Although he devoured the whole p le in barely a minute, inhaling it in one shot, it had been such an experience that he found himself with his mind blank for a moment.

He felt it, he could feel it in all of his being. He had not felt that way for such a long time that it made him pause as he opened his eyes. That emptiness lower into his frame, the strange sting that never left him... it was gone. The hunger... it was... gone.

"Aaaaaaw! Look at him, he's rubbing his tummy!" went Sword at the sight of the blue puffball as it sat down, an expression of total satisfaction bordering on serenity on its face. Sword then flinched, expecting the usual elbow to the side... but this time, it didn't come.

"Mety? Mety!"

The infant Star Warrior had been so busy savoring the moment that it was only after a few calls that he finally noticed that Fumu was saying his name. He opened his eyes and looked to the girl for a moment, wondering what was the problem. Then he clicked. What a doofus! She had brought that big pile of food for him and he hadn't even thanked her for it!

"Errr... thanks. I guess I was a bit hungry..." he said, feeling like a total idiot for a second.

Strangely enough, she snickered a bit as a reaction. "It's okay. You sure were hungry! You ate the whole pile in one shot!"

"I... did that?" it didn't immediately register. He had been so busy inhaling and then so busy just enjoying the fact that he was no longer hungry to pay attention to that detail. He then looked at the spot where the food pile had once been... and well, his face turned bright red as he noticed the spot was completely empty.

For a moment, there was complete silence as the blue puffball just stared at the spot, eyes widened, mouth opened in that circle-like shape, just unable to move or to think of something. Then, after a short awkward moment, his mouth changed to a smile and he felt something come to him. It was a strange feeling, one that tickled him all inside but that somehow felt good. He found himself trying to contain it, his paws grasping his curve, as if it was something physical that was trying to get out. And then, as he found it growing in size somehow, he heard a youthful snickering... and realized it was his own.

"I... I guess what they say is true! Candy is no substitute for a real meal!" it wasn't that funny, it wasn't even clever but it felt like a good idea to say. Somehow, it only calmed his laughter for a second before it became even worse.

Well, why not? He laughed. It was such an absurd, silly situation. Why was he feeling embarassed? He's like Kirby, he got the same appetite! So Mety and his friends laughed together. It felt good.

As the laughter passed, Mety couldn't help but think about how comfortable, how happy he felt. For the first time, he felt like he really belonged. It was... nice to feel at home. And well, he just couldn't get enough of it, too. The breeze on his skin, the warmth of the sun, the cool shades of trees, the feeling of both the grass and the castle floor on his feet... compared to the cold feeling of metal and fabric all over his body, it was almost like he was discovering the world for the first time. And of course, there was the fact of no longer having to pretend.

He felt... embarassed a lot. He felt like he was so clumsy, so new at everything and ironically, it wasn't far from the truth. He had tried to act like what he believed an adult to be and now that he no longer hid himself behind that facade, he felt kind of weird. When he thought back on it, he must have really looked silly and funny. Constantly waving a sword around, wearing a dumb mask all of the time even in his sleep, constantly standing in high places and wrapping himself in his cape to try and cover the fact that he's a short, round kid...

How come anyone took him seriously to begin with, now that he thinks about it? But then, he guessed Dedede was never really that smart.

"Say, Mety? Will you come with me this afternoon? I'll be heading with my brother to play in the fields again. He had a new idea and I'm thinking of joining in for once. And well, we've been wondering about the offer we gave you. You really never gave us an answer, you know!"

The blue puffball blinked. Offer? What offer was she talking about? As he found himself thinking, he shifted a bit again, trying to get his memory working. Last he knew, they had not asked him to...

"Oy!" he went, springing to his feet as he remembered.

Silly puffball! It was when he was painted that they had made the offer! The one to play with them!

However, darker thoughts prevented him from answering immediately. He wanted to say yes, he wanted to try. He had been wanting to play with other children for so long. It had been one of the dreams he had the most, to just throw his mask away and play, to just forget about the time and enjoy a game. But although he really enjoyed this visit, he was reminded that even if he assumed his true identity, it still didn't change the fact that he kind of was a knight in Dedede's service.

And that... was going to be a headache.

He found himself withdrawing, his eyes wandering all over the courtyard as if the walls would hold the answers somehow, his tiny paws joined behind his back as he drew circles with one foot. How will the king react to him truly being the same Star Warrior who had defeated his last Demon Beasts... well, Chimeras he had bought? What about performing his duties as before? How will Marx react? What to do with him? Before, he could pretend he wasn't an enemy of Marx and Dedede, just act as if he was ignorant and remain hidden behind his mask. That was no longer a possibility.

Of course, the real problem was that like Fumu and her family, the castle was his home. His stuff is in his room and he use the salary Dedede give him to pay his bills and buy his food. What would he do if Dedede fired him and kicked him out?

"I'm... I'm not sure if that's okay. I should deal with Dedede. And... well..."

That kind of destroyed the mood. He had a point and it made the young girl go silent and serious too. Sure, Fumu also opposed the penguin king directly but her resistance was one of words, one that the king could ignore. Mety oppossed him physically, fighting off his own men, destroying the Chimeras he acquired from the Dark Matter Collective. His case was a bit more complicated than hers.

Help came from the knvaes, who both stepped forward.

"We will take care of it, sir." Mety turned to look to Blade... "You should go with lady Fumu. Besides, you've been through a lot lately, you could use some time off."

"But Dedede..." the blue puffball's worry was very obvious in his voice.

"Your presence would likely just anger the king. You have done so much for us. As your knaves, we will take care of that issue."

Mety stared at the two. He had never really given it much thought but now that he thought about it, he remembered the way they had always stood at his side. Despite being rookie members of the Galactic Star Soldier force, they had never left his side, always following him and assisting him in any way they could. They were with him back during those horrible fights on all those planets and when he had first arrived on Pop Star, when he had been unable to trust anybody, they had always been there. And of course, he remember the way they had upheld their promise not to reveal his identity when they learnt of his true shape. Then there was the way they had assisted him, helping him fight off Ice Dragon. They had also searched for him alongside everyone back when he had run after Nightmare...

He had taken them for granted so much and they had never complained, their loyalty unshaken. Now that he thought about it, he found himself glad that they were at his side...

"Thank you..."

"We are only performing our duty, sir. Enjoy your day." Mety's knaves saluted him and then walked out of the courtyard, leaving him with Fumu...

"So... you're coming?"

He was slightly startled. He had been just standing there, watching as the two had left but now that she had spoken up, he was back to reality. He smiled at her and nodded energically. Yes, he would come.

"Yes!"

The tiny blue puffball ran to the girl's side and walked next to her as she begun to make her way out of the castle. Her thoughts wandered to what Kabu said as she watched him, his step youthful, his face displaying such a bright smile. But she would not tell him. Not yet, anyway. She wasn't sure what to think of it anyway. And well, she guessed it didn't really matter...

* * *

><p>Star passed by, the ship continuing its journey in silence through the vast emptiness of space. Within, at the commands were the two Demon Hunters, Silica and Knuckle Joe. The situation was very atypical and was really starting to get on the female Demon Hunter's nerves. Although the ship was truly in auto-pilot, she still concentrated on the path ahead, just in case. It was a boring job ; nothing much happened. Nothing really happened ever since Nightmare had been defeated and the NME fragmented. Still, she tried to pay attention, a task that was growing increasingly difficult with each passing minute.<p>

She shot glances at her partner, her serious expression slowly transforming into a frown and then, she finally snapped.

"What's wrong?"

The boy looked to her, blinking a few times. "What?"

"Something's wrong. What is it?"

This seemed to confuse Knuckle Joe further. "What? Why would something be wrong?"

"You never shut up during space travel usually. The only moments when you stop running your mouth is when something's wrong."

This seemed to upset the boy a bit. He frowned and removed his punching gloves for a moment, adjusting his headband. Of course, Silica knew he was just stalling for time and waited until he was done. He stared at her afterward, realizing that her attention span was unfortunately greater than ten seconds and then decided to speak up. He guessed she was right after all.

"It's just... it's suspicious. I mean, that Dark Matter Collective thing. Absolutely everywhere we asked, no one has any inkling of who they might be. No records ever stated they even existed. Then there's their agents. You remember Ice Dragon right?"

It was kind of hard to forget that particular beast. Its sheer size and power had stumped them completely. Even with Meta Knight's help and that of his knaves, it wasn't until the knight had thrown away his mask and used his true power that they could even dent the thing. But there was also the point of Box Boxer and Trollbot. When Mety was brought to the station, he was in an absolutely pitiful state, barely winning against them. Then there was also the fact that Marx was the one who killed their buddy...

How large is the collective, what is their ressources, how come no one ever heard of them before?

Then suddenly, Silica lost interest in Knuckle Joe for apparently no reason. She leaned on the control panel of the cockpit, blinking a few times, even hitting a few of the screens a few times weakly.

"What's wrong?"

"We got blanketed by communication waves. It's reflecting off every object and self-amplifying. Signal can't be blocked and is just blinding our radar."

Communication waves? What kind of transmission would be sent this way? They both had their answer as Silica turned the decoder on. It was indeed a transmission and on one of the screens, its content was displayed, the speakers inside of the cockpit playing the audio data that came with it.

"What the..."

Well, Knuckle Joe had just summarized it well. She could see it on the screen, the image was crystal clear and there was no signs of distortions or interference. Yet, she just couldn't bring herself to believe it. It had to be a fabrication somehow. It... couldn't be real.

On the screen was the image of Kirby, a bandage covering the upper left side of his body, his eye invisible underneath. The other eye was red instead of blue but apart from that, it was the same type of eye the young Star Warrior had, with the strange star reflection in the bottom and all. His face was just as it should be and as he spoke, it was the same youthful voice that the two had always known. But this was impossible, for Kirby was dead. Yet, they were receiving the transmission and it was crystal clear...

"-I am aware that to see and hear me may seem like a great shock. When I was last seen, I was incapable of speech and shortly after that, I was killed. But now, I speak to you to share with you a revelation which I was given."

Hearing the pink puffball speak, Knuckle Joe was finally able to determine a difference, excluding the red eye point. Somehow, Kirby's voice was not exactly a monotone but it seemed somehow... lifeless. It lacked the mirth, the energy of his happy squealings. His voice seemed somehow cold, sharp, cutting, uncaring, like a dictator who ordered someone around and had absolutely no patience for any comments regarding his ideas.

"The one who killed me, Marx, was not a Demon Beast but a Chimera, a member of the Dark Matter Collective. But they seeked not to end me for they have shown me that death is not the end. As my life was ended and I became one with the void, I was shown the true worth of all Light, of all Darkness. For eons, the Star Warriors and NME warred. I, myself, fought in their wars. But what for? In the end, Nightmare always returned and the cycle started over, again and again. Such is the cycle of Light and Darkness, the cycle of life. But the Dark Matter Collective shown me a different way, a new path..."

The two stared at the screen in silence, trying to see points that could reveal this to be somehow fabricated. But apart from Kirby's creepy tone and his eye color, he moved the same as he had in the past, spoke the same way, even looked to the screen the same way he would back when he squealed at people. Yet... this was impossible. This couldn't be Kirby, right?

But staring closer, Silica could notice that the darker spots showing burning marks that were healing, the same marks Kirby had, back then at the time of his death. Everything matched... but this still couldn't be. He was burried on Pop Star! This is insane!

"I have been reborn and now, I call for all to join me, to join us, to join the Dark Matter Collective in our revelation! Cast away your sorrow, your happiness, your dreams, and your bad memories! Become one with us! No longer am I bound to the name of Kirby, no longer am I cursed to be a Star Warrior, a slave to fate, doomed to fight Nightmare in a futile war! Join me and I shall share with you my enlightement as Zero, the ruler of the Dark Matter Collective!"

Then something that should not have happened did happen on the screen. The two had been convinced that this puffball could only be a copy for a variety of reasons but as it stood back, some kind of black sphere placed what seemed to be an orb on fire in front of the lookalike... and then, he inhaled it, just like Kirby used to, and transformed, gaining the hat of the Fire Ability and all. And just to drive the point home, breathed fire in the air and then transformed the hat into a star, discarding it... just like Kirby once could.

The Copy Ability... it was an ability no Demon Beast could use, an ability unique to Kirby. Well, Meta Knight could also use it but he was basically his twin, it turned out. No known Demon Beast in all of the universe could do what that copy had just done...

"I think we are in trouble."

Silica was too shocked to berrate Knuckle Joe for stating the obvious.

* * *

><p>Total, utter panic. This summarized the situation at the local Galactic Star Soldier base. The first sign that something was indeed very, very wrong was the absolute barrage of civilian ships that were orbiting the space station and the massive fleets of military ships arriving only to depart to various points. This sector of the galaxy was usually calm. With the NME primary base destroyed, most Demon Beasts had took upmost care upon distancing themselves from Pop Star as much as possible and as such, no one on the base usually saw most action. That so much was happening here was highly abnormal.<p>

"To GSS starbase one, this is Silica. Requesting permission to dock. And someone tell us what in the name of the stars is going on!"

There was a very noticeable pause before they received a reply, the high level of interference showing that there was probably a bajillion ships all trying to contact the base. Considering the cloud of metal the ship was going through, this was no surprise at all.

"All hell is breaking loose, that's what's happening! Sorry lady Silica but there's no time to explain over radio. Come in ASAP. Deck twelve."

The starship then received instructions. Whatever was happening, it was obviously something massive and just as bad as the two Demon Hunters were suspecting. For this many civilian ships to be here and for them to act in such an erratic way... they had to be refugee ships. What could possibly cause this?

Inside of the station, the situation was barely better. Military officers of all species and civilizations running, yelling orders at each others, arriving and departing all the time, medics all over the place carrying horrifically burnt and injured civilians, refugees piling into the halls, crying and pleading to know if their relatives were still alive... all of this was awakening a nameless fear inside of the Demon Hunters.

Despite the sheer havoc, it was relatively quick and easy to sneak into the office of the base's commander. As the door shut close behind them, the constant barrage of voices dulled by the steel of the door, the two could see the caretaker of the base sigh.

"Sir Knuckle Joe, lady Silica... I'm afraid we have a situation."

The boy spoke up before Silica could. "What's going on? Where are all those people from? And what was that non-sense that was broadcasted all over the place about the Dark Matter Collective?"

"Well... see for yourself." said the commander, before taking a remote and pressing a button. At this moment, holographic screens appeared behind him, at least a dozen of them.

What was shown on the screens... they were scenes of total horror. What seemed to be giant black balls, tearing entire fleets of starships to shreds with red beam-like weapons, one-eyed black ball-like monsters flying in swarms over cities, destroying everything, killing everyone, somehow diving into the screaming, fleeing civilians and warping them into horrific abominations. Images of entire solar systems, completely stripped of life, of even greater swarms of those giant balls carrying even more ridiculously big swarms of those black one-eyed things...

Even more terrifying was the text in the corner of each screen. Delta quadrant, alpha quadrant, beta quadrant... every single known sector of the galaxy was under attack in this same way.

"The transmission sent uncertainity and confusion to the entire galaxy. Almost simultaneously, those... things begun to attack every known civilization. They identified themselves as the Dark Matter Collective and they claim that Kirby, somehow raised from the dead, is leading them. The entire galaxy's defenses were taken by surprise. The stronger members of the galactic alliance who managed to repel the initial assault are rallying our forces for a counter-attack but the damage is already done. We have no idea how many civilizations, let alone planets and individual people, were lost due to this enemy but I'm afraid that we'll be talking about a proportion of the galaxy's population rather than an exact number..."

The two Demon Hunters stared at the screens. After Nightmare's death and the collapse of the NME, the various civilizations had united to begin rebuilding the Galactic Star Soldier force just in case... but to think that this would happen?

And then, suddenly, it clicked.

The Dark Matter Collective had done this. They were the masters of Marx, the one who killed Kirby, the one who unleashed those monsters upon Cappy Town! This can only mean...

"We have to go back to Pop Star. It is in danger. The Dark Matter Collective was behind the assassination of Kirby and were the ones who attacked Mety."

The commander nodded. He could understand why those two would wish to go back and well, Meta Knight was on Pop Star. Considering the brutality of the Dark Matter Collective's attack, it was most likely that it was only a matter of time before Pop Star was also attacked. He would not interfere with their decisions. They had their own battles to wage and as one of the officers in the alliance, it was his duty to let them do so.

* * *

><p>"Was that... Kirby?"<p>

"Yes noble king, yes it was!"

King Dedede stared at his jester, shock all over his face. When he had activated the screen, he had indeed expected a reply from the Dark Matter Collective but this? No, never this.

"But you killed him! How can he be there? And why would he claim to be your ruler?" then something hit Dedede. "And if that's real, why would he order you to kill him?"

The jester's innocent expression faded. His eyes focused and he leaped off his ball, his usual casual smile transforming into a vicious smirk. The penguin king, despite being much taller, suddenly found himself intimidated somehow. He stepped back... but found himself hitting something hard. He glanced to see Escargoon. But rather than speak up, he glared at him, an evil smirk on his face and then gripped him. Dedede had never known that Escargoon could have such a strong, firm grip...

"Yes we did. Although it's a bit more complicated than that. Don't worry, everything will be clear soon." The jester's friendly voice was gone. Now there was only an oily, ominous tone, like that of a deranged serial killer toying with a victim. The king desesperately wanted to step away from his jester but his advisor, somehow, was pinning him down.

"What are you doing? Escargoon, let go!"

"Do not worry. Once you join us, everything will be clear." It was the same voice of the same snail he had always known but the tone voice... it was the same as his jester's. This... this...

"Join-join you?"

"Yes." said Marx. "You see, although you are convenient, it is no longer in our interest for you to retain your free will. So you will be stripped of it. Not to worry, you will be allowed to remain as a figure head while we rule this planet and its population... not that you will care since you won't be able to form a thought of your own or even have an individual mind to begin with. But oh well, details we guess."

At this moment, the screen displayed what seemed to be a serie of horrifying, glaring eyeballs inside of spheres of black goo. Marx glanced at them and then made a dismissive gesture with his head. Getting the signal from their command unit, the spheres moved out of the screen... and then begun to materialize on the transporter pad. One dozen appeared, then another, then another, then another... The throne room begun to fill as darkness filled the entire place like a growing tidal wave.

Dedede tried to struggle but despite his physical strength being usually much greater than his advisor's, he couldn't even move a hair. Escargoon whispered to his king...

"Do not worry, noble king. We, too, struggled when we were stripped of our free will. Resistance is futile. You will adapt to servicing the collective in time just as we did."

"Somebody! HELP! HELP ME!" Dedede panicked as the humongous wall drawn closer, the darkness swallowing all of his vision, hundreds of swollen, flaming eyeballs glaring at him as if he was a wad of meat.

Marx smirked maniacally as he leaped back on his jester didn't even turn his head to glance at the king as he left the room, Dedede's screams of terror and pleas for mercy fading as he was engulfed by the growing darkness. If his calculations were exact, and they almost always are, the time has finally come. Yes indeed, the time has come for him to deploy his one final surprise and for Meta Knight to play his one final role in his plans. And then, all of the universe will be his to control!

* * *

><p>It was kind of amusing, absurd, and yet strangely fitting in a way. Mety was a real bundle of energy, seemingly impossible to tire. They had shown him how to play, which was really simple anyway since they improvized mostly, and then he had joined in and hadn't stopped since. He'd trip over his own feet, bounce a bit, even roll a tiny bit, but he always got up and kept trying. She had stopped at least half a hour earlier and he was still just as energetic as when they just started. On another hand, she guessed he was spending energy to play that he had been suppressing for far too many years for an ordinary kid to comfortably contemplate. Still, it was funny to think that this really energetic, happy blue bundle of happiness was also the grumpy masked knight who had sat down at the shade of the same tree she's now sitting under, just watching and sleeping.<p>

This was not the only change, of course. She'd usually read about a lot of things and although she hated to admit it, it was true that she enjoyed reading about funnier, more interesting things. Not just science-ish stuff, unlike what many of the other kids taunted, sometimes. To think that all this time along, Mety was just reading military tactics, stuff about being a better knight, and other stuff related to his job. She had lended him a few of her books, one being about dinosaurs. The way his eyes had lit up when he looked at the pictures alone...

Yet in a way, all of this opened old wounds and brought incomfortable questions to the young girl's mind. He was so much like Kirby that it actually made her miss him again. He was just so full of energy, so eager to be everyone's friend, so eager to be happy and to make people happy... compared to the repressed, secretive knight she had known, it was almost unreal.

And all of this brought her to the Galactic Star Soldier force, the original one, and the Star Warriors. What kind of people were they truly? She know that they were destined to fight the NME and kill Nightmare but the sheer trauma that Mety had suffered... The contrast between him and Kirby was just too great for her to ignore it. They were basically twins yet Mety had arrived with so many issues, so many scars, so much sadness and self-doubt... what had the Star Warriors done to him to make him so ashamed of himself, so self-doubting?

She was afraid to ask. Even after the months since Kirby's death, her young mind still feel sadness from the memories and she knew that Mety's own emotional wounds were bound to reach far deeper than hers. He was, for once, truly happy, truly himself. She didn't dare to spoil his happiness by burdening him with such questions. The Star Warriors are gone and a new Galactic Star Soldier force is being built anyway, it's not like it matters anymore she guessed...

Of course, all of this brought her to what Kabu had said.

According to Kabu, Mety was the one whose name was truly Kirby of the Stars, the one who had been destined to save Dreamland and defeat Nightmare. But if it was so... why had he never protested when they confused his pink counterpart for him? Why had he hidden behind Kirby all this time, simply training him a bit from time to time and overall refusing to act? She knew part of the answer, it was his shame. He had been so scared of himself that he had been unable to act. He couldn't even accept his nature, having to hide behind a mask and a false name. But still, what of the prophecy? Kirby defeated Nightmare and destroyed the NME but Mety then killed Nightmare, cutting off his source of resurrections.

But was the prophecy truly realized? Marx was out there, most definitely coming up with another sinister plan. He was a member of the Dark Matter Collective, whatever it was. Who were they? What is their connection to the NME, if any? Why did they seek out Kirby and caused so much trouble? Unlike the NME, the Dark Matter Collective was unknown around these parts, Kirby would have never seeked them out...

It was so strange. Things had went quiet since Marx had revealed Mety's true identiy. She had guessed he'd pull off his next plan soon after but days had passed and yet, there was no sign of him attacking anytime soon. What was Marx up to?

There seemed to be a metallic sound of sorts, weak but growing in volume gradually. For a second, she was unsure what it was but quickly recognized it, as did everyone else.

Mety found himself bumped on the head with the ball but didn't really pay attention, his gaze turning to see his knaves running straight toward him at full speed. Considering the speed they were running, it didn't take long for them to make it, the two of them almost collapsing on their knees, breaking into panting as they stopped. Apparently, they had run all the way here from the castle.

"S-sir!" went Blade. "It's terrible! Just terrible! The castle... the castle..."

"Monsters... pouring of the transporter's room! So many..."

But just as Sword finished, Blade spun around and saw it, as did everyone else. A horrifying liquid black ball flying straight through the air toward them, a single, yellow bulging eye on it, glaring daggers at them as it charged.

There was no hesitation. Blade had brought Mety's old sword just in case and thrown it at the puffball. The blue child's expression turned serious and he quickly opened his mouth, inhaling his own blade. There was a flash of light... and just as the black ball charged through the clearing, the two knaves diving out of the way, the ball heading straight for Mety, the Star Warrior swung with his sword with blinding speed.

The maleovent sphere was cleaved right in two, its two halves splashing all over the place and dissolving as the blue puffball stood there, gripping his blade, a familiar green cap visible on him.

It seemed that Fumu's question about Marx and the Dark Matter Collective had been answered.

Mety gripped the handle of the sword he had wielded so many times in the past, staring at the hilt. The sword's blade had been dulled yellow by years of use and the hilt had lost its red gem but as he had swallowed it and allowed his Copy Ability to do its work, the blade had somehow reverted to the same shiny white that it had once been, years ago, the red gem repaired somehow. He could feel the instincts going through his mind, the instinctive knowledge of the Copy Ability mixing with his acquired skills with the blade, his grip steady and firm despite the lack of the gloves he usually wore.

He had failed so many times. Marx was moving, unleashing his wrath. He would not fail again. He would protect Dreamland, he would drive back this new darkness. And not because Arthur told him or because he was a Star Warrior... but to protect the people, their happiness, and for his own newfound true self.

He swung the blade, placing it at his side. The sheer determination in his eyes was a far cry from the uneasy, hesitant gaze that the puffball once had. He had the vision now, the will to save what he cared for. Marx had already taken Kirby from him. He would not be allowed to take anything else from him.

"Let's go."

It had been such a shock, seeing the blue puffball suddenly so motivated, so lacking in hesitation. But the knaves accepted their lord's new determination. No longer was he doing this for duty. Once more, like so long ago, he now believed. It was time to do what they had been trained for.

"We are right behind you."

"You can do it, Mety!" called Fumu's brother.

For the first time, the blue puffball believed that statement. He broke into a dash straight toward the castle...

* * *

><p>BAM!<p>

He didn't bother opening the door properly. Instead, he just spun his body a bit and slammed one of his purple feet straight into the frame. For being a tiny blue puffball, he was sure capable of strong kicks and the door's lock cracked open, the whole thing swinging open.

The castle hall was silent, deathly silent. Or so it seemed at first. Listening intently, Mety could distinguish what seemed to be strange windy sounds, a bit like buzzing but more consistent, the sounds of more of those black balls flying around.

A spear came straight for him. The thrust was far faster, far more skillful than it should have. Dedede's Waddle Dees were, after all, not the most skilled of fighters. But the blue puffball did not ask himself about all of this. He simply sidestepped and with a single swing, cut the spear in two.

The Waddle Dee charged, limbs extended as it attempted to grab into the Star Warrior and choke him. Mety spun right around the charge and raked the Waddle Dee's back with his blade, making a deep cut into it, causing a large amount of blood to spill. As the creature found itself injured, Mety brought his sword upward and then slammed the handle straight on top of the Waddle Dee to knock it out.

The Waddle Dee then had the strangest of reactions. It collapsed to its knees, eyes bulging, and then the lower half of its face errupted into a torrent of black goo, the unfortunate creature vomitting what seemed to be the same disgusting dark slime that had been inside of the Chimeras Mety had previously defeated. Then the unfortunate Waddle Dee fell on its face, unconscious.

Blade and Sword followed, the green armored soldier checking for more enemies in the immediate area while Sword poked the Waddle Dee to see if it was still alive. Thankfully, despite the big cut on its back, it still was. Still, that last event...

"This black liquid and those monsters... they must be possessing them somehow." he theorized.

It sure made sense. That Waddle Dees had been far too confident, far too quick, far too precise to be itself. And considering that the place was supposed to be infested, he could only guess that it meant the monsters had somehow possessed everyone inside.

"Please check around for survivors. I'll go to the transporter room and wreck that infernal thing once and for all."

"What if you run into Marx, sir? You're sure you can take him out on your own." asked Sword.

Mety nodded. He would not fail this time. He was done failing. "Don't worry about me. I'll be alright."

The two armored soldiers walked together to the left, heading toward the quarters. They would be alright. That they weren't Star Warriors didn't matter. They knew how to fight and they knew when to run. As for him... it was time to pay Marx and Dedede a visit, something he should have years ago. He had let that fat excuse for a king get away with it for far too long.

Of course, it would have been silly of him to expect to just walk right to the throne room. Maybe the NME baddies would have allowed him to do this but his repeated skirmishes with the Dark Matter Collective's cronies had taught him that they were a whole different level of bad guys. They didn't disappoint and as he walked by the courtyard, taking a shortcut to the throne room, he saw the rather intimidating mass of black balls floating in the air, a massive amount of Waddle Dees all wielding different weapons preparing their weapons. He could hear them chant in an alien language, their words distorted and ominous...

He could have sneaked around to say the truth but when he saw the Waddle Dees that were chained in the center, many of the black balls diving into them thus confirming Sword's theory, he couldn't help but intervene.

"PoYAAAAAAAH!"

He leaped through the air, the various monsters all turning to glare at him.

His leap had been true, the blade catching one of the Waddle Dees on the edge of the formation, almost cleaving it in two, splattering more of that black goo. The bad guys' reaction came immediately and many of the bow-wielding Waddle Dees fired while a dozen of black-colored arcs of lightning fell from the mass of one-eyed monsters floating overhead. Thankfully, the possessed Waddle Dee's body absorbed the various hits, shielding him.

He kicked into the lifeless Waddle Dee, sending it into the crowd like a bowling ball while he discarded his Copy Ability. Before the enemy could react, he had already charged into the crowd and jumped on top of one of the Waddle Dees. He inhaled deeply toward one of the formations of bow-wielding Waddle Dees, throwing them off their feet while the one at the front of the formation disappeared in Mety's mouth.

As the black spheres and spear-wielding Waddle Dees closed in from all sides, Mety spat back the Waddle Dee, now into the form of an energy star. The projectile impacted, turning many of the black spheres to lifeless liquid, tearing limbs off of some of the Waddle Dees. He then jumped, leaving three of the possessed Waddle Dees to pierce each others' faces with their spears.

As he landed a bit back, one of the black spheres had a lucky shot and struck Mety straight in the face with one of those black lightnings. Those arcs of lightning may not look like much but the blue puffball found himself finding that they hurt a lot, an awful lot. It did not matter though as he had leaped far back enough to get in range of one of the torches. It was a simple matter to inhale it.

The Waddle Dees were moving to surround him, the mass of black spheres hovering closer and closer...

He did not hesitate. The ability's fire breath was a short-ranged attack but it did its work, driving back the mass of bad guys and most importantly, setting the grass of the courtyard on fire. As the flames begun to spread, arrows rained. Mety made a short hop forward, curling in mid-air and covering his own frame in fire, turning himself into a makeshift fireball, charging through the courtyard, spreading the flames. He found himself with two of the arrows catching him, one piercing through his left side, near the arm, the other higher on his frame, in the center. He barely noticed them despite the damage they caused, adrenaline blanking out the pain.

As he finished his circuits of the courtyard, surrounding the possessed Waddle Dees, he discarded his ability once more and looked up to the mass of black balls. He ought to take care of those particular bullies.

With the flames and smoke making it harder to see him, he sneaked his way to the left, flinching as he pulled out the arrows that had stuck to his body. Sure, he knew that arrows could be really painful and dangerous weapons but still, he couldn't help but suppress tears as he pulled them off the best he could, a bit of blood leaking from the cuts created by the projectiles. Still, he had went through worse. He could survive such hits.

The mass of bad guys was looking around carefully, the bow-wielding Waddle Dees occasionally shooting at shadows that seemed like they were Mety while the black balls shot a lightning bolt or two at times. Mety figured that the sooner the bow-wielding bad guys and the black balls are done with, the better it will be.

He walked around the courtyard... and then as one of the bow-wielding baddies was reloading his bow, a blue puffball leaped from behind the wall of flames and engulfed him in his mouth. The formation of the bad guys was not good to intercept Mety and he took the opportunity to turn to the black mass overhead and spit another star projectile into the middle of the cluster. This time, his attack did serious damage, destroying many of the cluttered black balls.

Their numbers constantly shrinking, the bad guys glared at the blue puffball and then ran through the wall of flames, accepting the burns it gave them while the black mass dispersed. Knowing he had little time before those things came back with reinforcements, Mety ran to the center of the courtyard. Grabbing one of the discarded weapons from the baddies, he cut the ties loose. The Waddle Dees didn't have to be asked twice and begun to run away.

With the situation done with, Mety made his way out of the burning courtyard and toward the various doors leading deeper into the castle. That had been brutal, that had been bloody, and yet he had bothered. No matter how many of those bullies try to beat him, he won't fail again. He opened the door and moved forward...

* * *

><p>The throne room's doors were kicked open as the blue puffball made his way inside. Despite the growing collection of bruises on his body, Mety felt determined as he made his way inside. He had expected for a moment to be ambushed or to run into a full wall of bad guys but strangely enough, the room was... empty?<p>

This had to be a trap. He looked around carefully and yet, he could see absolutely no one. The transporter was active but nothing was teleporting in and the display screen was showing static. What was that about?

"SURPRISE!"

Dozens of balloons fell from the ceiling and confetti covered the surprised puffball who couldn't help but squeak a little 'poy?' in confusion. It was then that the image of Marx appeared on the display screen...

"Oh! Hi there, Meta Knight! If you're hearing this message, it's that you decided yourself to play hero. Unfortunately, I'm afraid you're kind of too late. I'm currently outside, preparing the final phase of my plan. I'd like to invite you to the orbit of Pop Star so you can see my triumph but you kind of don't have a starship and you're going to die in this room anyway. But well, intentions that count, isn't it?"

SLAM! Click!

Mety spun to see the large double doors of the throne room shut closed, locking themselves. But that was not what worried him. He knew he could always smash them open...

CLAAAANG!

The massive blast door that slammed right in front of the doors was his real worry. The thing looked incredibly thick and just from the looks alone, the blue puffball knew that he was trapped. There was no way out. At this moment, the characteristic sound of the transporter being activated echoed through the throne room and he turned back to see it indeed coming to life.

"Of course, I'm not leaving you to rot alone in this big, scary, dark room just by yourself. I invited some friends who will... entertain you. Now now, have fun Mety! And try not to spill too much blood on the floor in your death throes, okay? Those blood stains sure are hard to clean off the carpets. Hehehehenyahaha!"

The infant Star Warrior couldn't help but do the puffball equivalent of raising an eyebrow as he saw the black spheres that begun to pour out of the transporter. For some reason, as bad as the situation was, he felt kinda weirded out by how the bad guys had party hats on. It was just... tacky. He guessed it was probably really funny to Marx but he didn't see the humor in it.

As the mass of black balls begun to extend, forming a ring around the transporter, the blue puffball noticed that not just spheres were coming out now. There seemed to be semi-bipedal versions of the spheres now, clad in white armor, wielding a variety of weird weapons. Some had swords glowing with different types of energy, others had clubs, still more had wands, and then others had... brooms?

As the party hat-wearing black spheres massed around the walls while the knight-like ones glared at him, Mety figured that they were convinced this was going to be a game of sorts. Marx was probably watching from afar, thinking this was funny or something. Him almost dying to Box Boxer and Trollbot must probably have made that stupid jester confident in his superiority, especially after that scene back with the water flower.

Well, not this time. Sure, the mob was starting to grow and soon, it would be much bigger than the one at the courtyard and likewise, those white knight things looked quite a bit meaner than Waddle Dees... but it didn't matter. He will not lose. He won't let a bunch of body-hijacking bullies harm him or his friends.

So he straightened himself, feet spreading as he took on a ready stance, glaring back at the knights.

He broke into a sprint. The various black spheres suddenly flew straight ahead, forming a barrage, trying to collide with the blue puffball! The infant Star Warriors concentrated, his attention focused on his immediate surroundings, not slowing down as the balls approached...

Then, as a bunch of those things charged him, one from each side, Mety kicked into the floor, jumping forward, causing the spheres to smash into each others. More of them lashed out upward, trying to intercept him mid-jump but Mety inhaled and closed his mouth before flapping his limbs, sending himself upward further and causing the one-eyed monsters to hit each others instead.

Bolts of black lightning shot from every direction and the formation of white knight-like monsters swung their weapons, crystals of ice, fireballs, bolts of electricity, and even rocks being thrown straight at Mety. The barrage was very impressive and would have put fear into Mety's heart not too long ago. There were so many enemies all trying to get him, after all. But he was done being afraid, he was done hiding.

He did not lose his focus. He breathed out loudly, letting himself deflate. As he dropped from the air, the massive barrage of projectiles passed right overhead, missing him entirely.

BONK!

Unfortunately, Mety had not flown in an extremely long while using that method and found himself spinning in mid-air and landing straight on his head instead of his feet.

"Pow-aah..."

Why had the enemies begun to circle him like this? Was the room shaking? No, no! Focus, focus! Mety shook his head only to notice that one of the knights had closed the distance and was swinging its sword, the blade right over its head. Through the visor, the blue puffball could see the lone yellow eye, glowing with a mix of pure hatred, contempt, and anger.

The blue blade spread a numbing cold through his face, causing him to stagger slightly. The biting cold made the puffball want to whimper, barely feeling the blood that oozed from the cut due to how numbed he found himself by the sheer cold of the ice sword.

But although tempted to cry, the puffball found itself far more annoyed by the knight's looks. The black balls and their armored bethreens were just staring at him in pure hatred, as if he was some kind of bothersome insect that was not only buzzing around them in an annoying manner but also owed them money while taunting them about it. And this really, really didn't sit well with Mety. He was definitely going to make those bullies change their minds.

The black balls and their armored bethreens lashed out viciously, the transporter coming to life as more and more of them poured into the room. They all charged at the blue puffball in a single-minded fury that not even the most beserk of Demon Beast hordes could manage, every single being glaring at Mety as if he was the one who had broken their pet robot dog and trying to extinguish his young life with enough dedication to make the most insane psycho look friendly. They didn't even bother about formations or anything. They just jumped straight on the puffball and pined him on the floor, swinging their weapons wildly, beating, smashing, cutting into him, not even caring as the blue puffball's blood splashed over their armors. They just wanted that darn, stupid Star Warrior to die by any mean necessary.

The pain was incredible. He knew they were killing him. They were making their distaste of him more than obvious. He decided to return it tenfolds.

Suddenly, the pile of dark ones shook and the front of it caved in. Many of them lost their grips and stopped swinging and then...

SWOOOOOSH!

The blue explosion of cold energy from the Ice Ability was lethal at such a close range. Instantly, many of the dark enemies were turned to ice statues and then, with a deafening sound, dozens of the monsters shattered to ice as Mety leaped out of the pile wearing the characteristic hat, covered in cuts and bruises but still very much alive as well as very angry.

This pushed the black balls even further in their rage. Black lightning, arcs of normal lightning, rocks, crescent-shaped lasers, ice crystals, fireballs, the dark ones unleashed a massive barrage of attacks.

Mety sent himself sliding forward, feet joined together as he moved out of the way, the many projectiles slamming right where he used to be. Already standing in his path were more of the black balls and their armored bethreens, pouring from the transporter like a flood. Weapons were raised and they were intent in stopping the blue puffball's slide in a sudden, terminal fashion.

Mety did it for them. He shifted his weight upward and kicked into the floor, springing to his feet just as he arrived in front of one of the black balls. Then just as it was about to blast him with more of that dark energy bolt the dark ones were so fond of throwing around, he blew in its face. The sheer cold of the ice breath instantly turned the black slimy creature into a snowball of sorts which the Star Warrior kicked violently, sending like a bowling ball into the mass of enemies right ahead.

Despite Mety's efforts, he was finding himself progressively surrounded as the black balls and armored foes right behind him closed the gap again while more and more enemies emerged from the transporter to replace those he had just defeated. The blue puffball's hat vanished as he ejected his ability, the star bouncing away while he looked fearlessly at the snarling mass of one-eyed foes, his enemies forming a taller and taller wall that surrounded him almost completely.

Again, Mety inhaled. Again, the foes charged. He felt his body deform, organs being crushed as the clubs smashed mercilessly on his blue skin, blades drawing blood, flames burning him and threatening to set him on fire. A mix of determination, adrenaline, and momentary fear knowing that he'd die if he didn't stop inhaling caused him to close his eyes shut as he took the attacks. His body was hurting more and more and he was starting to really feel each of the individual hits, the rush of determination starting to lose its effect, his growing injuries beginning to be harder and harder to ignore.

But he was not giving up. As he swallowed another mass of enemies, a massive sphere of electricity formed around the blue puffball, shocking and frying to a crisp the balls that surrounded him, the various white knights sliding off him twitching in agony as the sphere expanded.

Mety knew he could not defeat the entire flood. He had known before he even entered the throne room and realized he would be ambushed. To defeat the enemy proper was not his goal here. There was a particular reason why he had charged...

In all of his charges, the infant Star Warrior had brought himself closer and closer to the transporter machine and as he emerged from that last body pile, the puffball found himself practically standing on the pad. It was then that the dark ones realized what had been the blue one's strategy and why he had switched to that particular ability.

"KILL IT! KILL IT NOW!" snarled one of the dark ones.

Mety felt it, he definitely felt it. The barrage of hits, the energy that blanketed his back and burnt through his skin, filling his entire body with pain, causing him to straighten as he shook and twitched, his nerves set ablaze, his eyes shooting open wide. He wanted to scream but he focused all of the pain in his attack, all of his anguish in the technique he unleashed.

Power coursed through his body and into his limbs before emerging as massive arcs of green lightning. The massive beams tore through the room, cutting large swats through the masses of bad guys, splattering black goo all over the room and frying enemy after enemy. The beams were large, hard to direct and the pain from being hit was making it hard to aim but he held on, directing the beams progressively toward his front.

And then, he converged them straight into the core of the transporter.

The result was instantaneous. The machine begun to short-circuit and malfunction, the portal convulsing and pulsating. Black balls emerged cut in two, some others smashed and already dead, the portal now unstable and deadly. The flood stopped and explosions lit up the room, smoke starting to fill it. The monsters behind Mety doubled their efforts, trying desesperately to finish off the puffball before he could destroy the portal.

Mety then converged the beams back into his own body and let out one final scream as the electricity fried yet more of his damaged body, overcharging himself far beyond the safety limitations even for the Spark Ability, and then unleashed his power in one humongous discharge. The shockwave was so powerful it errupted out of Mety like a real explosion, knocking every remaining enemy into the walls, cracking them and causing a few pieces of the ceiling to fall on the floor loudly.

And then... the room finally was silent.

It took a few moments for the puffball to react. For a moment, he thought he just wouldn't make it and his ability hat was gone, all of his energy spent. His back was finally stopping hurting and as adrenaline begun to die down, his gaze begun to finally look at the room proper.

Everywhere, he could see piles of his downed enemies, the piles so tall and massive some of them went almost all the way to the ceiling. He could see the floor, almost entirely covered in the black strange blood of his foes, with a bit of his own mixing just at his feet. So many enemies, large marks into the walls where the countless projectiles he and his foes had thrown had struck, cratters in the floor everywhere. The transporter machine was a wreck, that infernal thing finally destroyed, the portal gone.

Mety blinked. So many enemies... had he... truly defeated so many of them? All by himself?

He wasn't sure how he intended to complete that last thought. He was just so... exhausted. He didn't care where he was or about anything else, he just needed to lie down. As there was nowhere near better, he approached the broken throne and then lied down, closing his eyes, finally letting go and going to sleep. So tired... just... needed a short nap...

* * *

><p>Its gaze unnaturally focused, the Waddle Dee marched forward. The Collective knew that their prey was there and he was bait. This didn't bother him ; he was merely a fragment of the Collective, a fragment among any others. Their prey was surprisingly smart and effective, although they were ultimately a low threat level.<p>

The Collective then lost the signal of the Waddle Dee as a sword was thrust into its side from the shadows, ending its life, a mix of red and black dripping from the blade. Then a pair of gloved paws grabbed the Waddle Dee, slowing its fall. Before long, it was dragged into the shadows, leaving only a slight trail of blood and black goo on the floor.

As they weren't the strongest of fighters, Blade and Knight had decided to take on a... less knightly approach to weed out the horde of the enemy. They patrolled the halls, sneaking around their targets, eliminating them one by one, leaving false trails for them to follow and misdirecting their enemies. But the task was hard, far harder than expected. Taking this enemy by surprise was extremely difficult. Whenever they killed a lone Waddle Dee or one of those strange one-eyed black balls, the entire horde would dispatch a squad to search the area even if there had been no witnesses. Likewise, the level of coordination and synchronization between the enemies was far too good to be normal. It was as if their minds was somehow connected...

Sure, the two were making progress and had already kicked a significant part of the enemy forces out of the west wing of the castle but the enemy was starting to lay traps, to try to lure them. They had already escaped three of those ambushes and although they liked to think that they'd succeed without the help of their lord, their armors was starting to sport a growing collection of cuts, holes, and other damage marks. More worryingly was that some of those hits had reached their bodies proper. The odds were not in their favor and with their lord busy cutting off the enemy at its source, there was little hope of reinforcements. They found themselves urgently wishing that Kirby or at least Knuckle Joe and Silica, would show up...

With the Waddle Dee dragged into the shadows, they went the other way. Misdirection, the key to survival. Although the Star Warriors fought traditionally in the open, the lesser Galactic Star Soldiers lived and died by their strategy, by luring the foe into disadvantageous situations while escaping positions that cannot be held. It was a strategy that had served them well, considering Blade and Sword were now living to fight today where many of those so-called superior Star Warriors had long rotten away on forgotten planets.

Unfortunately for the two, as they emerged from the hall on the other side, the Dark Matter Collective sprung its next trap. One of the Waddle Dees aimed his bow while the two had their backs turned, preparing to end of the two's lives... only for its side to be caved in, the creature slamming into a wall, squashed very flat and very dead, the usual mix of black ooze and blood pouring from the cracks caused by the powerful punch.

The two knaves turned around to see Knuckle Joe smiling... and not noticing the other Waddle Dee just behind him raising its spear to strike him. The Waddle Dee never struck as Silica thrust her blade into its body and then hurled it at the nearest wall.

"Hey! Watch your back, punchy guy!" she taunted, the boy turning to see his ally smiling. That was awkward. He had come to rescue those two from that ambush and he was himself rescued from an ambush. Oh well...

"Knuckle Joe! Silica!" called the two knaves. Despite their shocked tone, they were a sight for sore eyes, that was to be sure.

"Thought you'd need the help. So where's Meta Knight?"

"He went to destroy the transporter machine. The flow of foes begun from there." explained Blade.

"What are you two doing here? What's going on?" Sword interjected, embarassing his brother a bit.

The two Demon Hunters looked at each others before looking to the two knaves. Silica wanted to point out that this was quite the rude, ungrateful reaction considering they were just saved but there was no time for that.

"The Dark Matter Collective, the masters behind Marx, launched a surprise invasion of every major civilization. We came to help, seems we were right to."

It made sense. There had to be a reason why the enemy had tried to drive Mety out of town. They had been paving the way for their opening move!

"Your help is appreciated. Will you assist us in expelling the foes inside of the castle?" went Blade.

The two Demon Hunters smiled widely. "Hey, that's what we came for. Let's go!"

With the Demon Hunters at their sides, Blade and Sword felt confidence return to them. The odds would surely be in their favor and they shall clean up the castle in no time now. Still...

"Next time you meet our lord, please call him Mety." said Sword.

This made the two rose an eyebrow so he elaborated briefly. "A few things have happened since you last were on the planet. We'll explain once the castle is secured."

* * *

><p>"It won't open!"<p>

"No problem! I'll create a new door?"

"And how do plan on doing that?"

CRRRRACK! BRANGRANGRANG!

"Oh."

The four weren't really sure what to think as they stepped inside of the throne room. The easiest way to summarize what welcomed them was to call it a scene of carnage. Countless of those one-eyed black spheres were massed into huge, lifeless piles, with many of them even clad in armor, broken weapons all over the place. The floor seemed almost hidden under a cover of black, slimy blood and the various cratters and gashes into the walls made the throne room look more like a warzone than Dedede's room.

"What happened here?" Silica's whispered what the four thought to themselves. Had Meta Knight truly caused that much destruction? All by himself?

Then there was the broken shape of the transporter, half-burried in yet more corpses. It was good riddance, if one asked the four. This infernal machine had brought so much misery to Pop Star through the years, being the gateway through which the NME had sent its monsters. Well, now it wouldn't be used anymore. Fittingly, the screen above only displayed static, the machine definitely silent once and for all.

Still, what of Mety?

It was then that the knaves noticed their lord, atop a small pile of felled bad guys, his eyes closed as he lied against the remains of the penguin's throne, his body covered in cuts and purple bruises visible all over his tiny body. Momentarily panicking, the two lost their composure and ran straight to the blue puffball's side.

However, as the two checked their lord, their bodies relaxes and intense relief washed through their souls as the child snored peacefully. He was just sleeping...

"Wait! What is Meta Knight doing sleeping in here without his mask?" asked Silica, not understanding the situation.

Slowly, white eyes opened and the infant Star Warrior noticed the four. He wasn't sure how long his nap had taken but he was already feeling a bit better and well, he could say that he was happy to see his friends still in one piece.

"Hi..."

Smiling under his helmet, Blade understood as did his brother. "You are unbelievable, sir. Unbelievable..."

As the puffball turned to look at them, the two Demon Hunters could not help but feel as if something had changed about Meta Knight beyond his lack of a mask and his strange choice of a location for a nap. He somehow seemed more... relaxed, less haunted. The way he just smiled at them seemed kind of childish, even. It was... quite the contrast.

"We've managed to drive off the enemies from the castle. Sir Knuckle Joe and lady Silica came to give help." went Sword.

Mety suddenly had a strange expression. He blinked, bringing a paw to his mouth, looking like he was confused for a second. He even let out a soft 'Poy...?', something that the Meta Knight that the two Demon Hunters had known would have never done. Then, he sprung to his feet, leaping out of the pile, not even caring that he was half-covered in black sludge and in various bruises.

"That's it!"

"That's it what? I think you really have a lot to explain, Meta Knight." said Knuckle Joe, crossing his arms at the whole situation.

The blue puffball seemed to barely pay attention. "We'll need your ship! This whole attack was just a diversion! He's in orbit right now, preparing... I don't know what but it's his primary plan! We have to go now!"

Before they could even think of telling him to explain himself, the child had already ran past them. He turned around briefly, smiling at them. "Oh and by the way, call me Mety from now on. I'd prefer that." And then he was back on his way out of the throne room.

The two Demon Hunters just stood there, trying to comprehend the strangeness of the situation while the two knaves walked past them. "Told you so to call him Mety." said Sword amused as the two followed their lord.

The boy looked to the girl and then, both shrugged. This... was definitely weird. What had happened exactly for Meta Knight to no longer care about his mask, to act like a kid like that, to say 'poyo' as if it was normal, and then for him to insist on being called Mety? Once they're done with this situation, they better have a good explanation...

The two ran off after the three... but just as they reached the outter part of the castle, they noticed the blue puffball and his knaves just standing outside, gazes locked upon the sky, their expressions blank. They seemed shocked somehow. What could cause them to have such an expression?

The two of them walked out and then looked to the skies...

"You remember when I said we were in trouble?" asked Knuckle Joe.

"Y-yeah..." responded Silica, her voice shaking.

"Well, scratch that. NOW, we are in trouble."

* * *

><p>Marx's eyes glowed in pure glee as he finally saw it take position. Building it had taken so many years of preparations, so many years of study but at long last, all of the preparations were paying off. The process had been slow, so very slow as he knew the Dark Matter Collective had monitored him carefully. It had taken so many years to build something of such size, especially considering that he had to take only tiny amounts of ressources at a time so he wouldn't be caught.<p>

But now, at long last, his masterpiece and center of his grand scheme is finally completed and taking position. Indeed, the time has come to deploy and activate Nova.

The jester couldn't help but admit that it looked kind of silly. A moon-sized mechanical monstrosity, all of golden metals, covered in what seemed to be giant tools of every single civilization mixed to every type of clockwork technology ever with a giant cat-like face in the middle and a humongous array of thrusters in the back for movement. It was an unwieldy, ugly contraption... but it had a very specific function, one that would have made Dark Reaper recycle him on the spot if he had knew.

Well, too bad for him. His own plan is about to run into a brick wall. Of course, normally, someone would have probably tried to stop him but with the Dark Matter invasion going on on the ground, everyone who was a potential threat was busy fighting each others.

"Proximity alert. Vessel signature match with Demon Hunter standart starship signals." Marx was unpleasantly surprised by the computer of his ship. He hated surprises, especially at the climax of his plans.

Marx glared at the radar screen. How did they find out? They should all be busy getting themselves killed by the Dark Matter forces! And that idiot Meta Knight didn't have a ship of his own anyway! And if that had been a Warp Star, he would have known it! Who could this be?

Suddenly, the starship sent a transmission and then, the jester had his answer as Mety's face appeared on the screen.

"It's all over Marx! We're right behind you! You try anything funny and we'll blow up you and your ship!"

Oh no! He's not going to be denied! Not so close to his goal! What a pest! He slammed a limb on the button to reply so hard he almost broke his ship's interface. But he didn't care anymore at this point.

"Oh if it isn't the monstrous Demon Beast and his friends! Found some chump naive enough to give you a lift? Here's a joke for you, gumball! What's round, blue, devoid of braincells, and not realizing he's sitting in front of the universe's single most powerful weapon? That's right! You! Ba-dum-PING!"

This time, it was the image of some girl that shifted into view on the screen. "Oh we don't doubt it's powerful, we just won't let you use it. We have our weapons locked on your ship. Surrender now, Marx. You've lost."

Yep, they were totally inept even after all this time. They never caught on. "Dream on, chumps. I don't need this ship anyway. Here, I'll detonate it for you. Will make you happy since you constantly talk about destroying it right? Now scram, I got plans to complete."

Leaping off his feet, Marx grinned to himself. The ability to survive in total vacuum sure was useful, he thought to himself. It was a simple thing to walk to a panel, activated the self-destruction sequence, and then walk to the airlock and eject himself. He won't be stopped now. Not so close to his goal.

* * *

><p>"Marx's ship just exploded!"<p>

"What? Why would he do that?"

Mety was looking at the whole situation unfolding with growing worry. There was something awfully, awfully wrong with this whole picture. Somehow, he had a feeling like Marx was still a step ahead of them as usual. The blue puffball tried to get his mind working. Why would the jester just detonate his own ship like that?

... he thought for a while. And then, suddenly, he remembered what Fumu had told him about Marx, about his supposed true form. What if... what if it could survive and even fly in space?

"Hey! Search for Marx himself!"

At the controls, Knuckle Joe and Silica stopped arguing to look at the tiny puffball.

"Just do it!"

Well, that was strange but then, maybe Meta Knight knew something that they didn't? With a sigh, Silica switched radar mode on the ship... and then, both her and Knuckle Joe's eyes widened at the data they received.

"I can't believe it... It's Marx! He's somehow still moving toward that giant golden clock-like thing, even without a ship!"

"Can you hit him with the ship's weapons?" asked the Star Warrior.

That was a problem. Knuckle Joe's silence said everything. Marx was too small a target, too far away, moving too fast. The ship's weapons would not be able to catch him. He had once again, indeed, proven he was one step ahead of them.

There had to be a way for him to catch Marx, for him to stop him! He couldn't have defeated all those Dark Matter thingies down there just for him to fail at the last moment! Even with a ship, he wouldn't be able to stop whatever Marx is doing? That isn't fair!

Suddenly, he found himself wishing for Kirby and Fumu to be here. She'd probably summon the Warp Star, with which Kirby could probably catch up to him...

Wait. The Warp Star. Kirby and him are practically twins. The same power, the same age, the same basic everything, with only the color and how they spent the century of life they had as differences. So if Kirby could use the Warp Star... then maybe...

"The communicator!"

Everyone in the ship turned to Meta Knight. "We need to call Fumu! If she can call the Warp Star, then maybe I can use it to catch up with Marx!"

Yeah, things had definitely gotten weird since they last were on the planet. Since when did Meta Knight get ideas like this? He had always insisted he'd never be able to use a Warp Star and now, he was suggesting just that? It was bordering on madness, when one considered all of the weirdness in the castle. What had happened to Meta Knight for him to act like this? Still, the pleading look on his face was really hard to resist and the fact that it didn't vanish shown he wouldn't stop until they had at stop tried.

"Fine..." said Silica with a sigh. "But you better explain everything once this is done, okay? I'm starting to think you're actually some kind of weird doppelganger."

It took a bit of fiddling but before long, the communication was established. The group just waited while Mety shot nervous glances at the cockpit's canopy, trying to see Marx among the sea of stars, hoping they wouldn't be too late...

Then after several minutes, the transmission was finally opened.

"Knuckle Joe? Silica?" Fumu's voice, just the person they needed. Before anyone else could react, Mety spoke up.

"Fumu! I need you to try to summon the Warp Star to me! Don't ask, just do it!"

"Mety? But..."

"Just do it!" pleaded the puffball.

There was another moment of silence... "Fine, I will try..."

* * *

><p>At long last... it was done. Marx was finally in range. It had been a gamble but just as he had predicted, those chumps had no way of actually hurting him outside of his ship. Victory was, at long last, within his grasp.<p>

Sensing the presence of its creator and master, the machine begun to activate. The massive eyes opened and the software inside of the robotic monster started. The blank gaze of Nova set upon the jester, the connection between the two established...

"READY. PLEASE INPUT ACCESS CODE."

That was it, at long last, that was it. Eagerly, the jester projected his voice using his supernatural powers, transmitting it to his creation.

"Well, I want to control Pop Star!"

The machine stared for a few seconds and then, the deafening, monotone voice returned. "VOICE PATTERN RECOGNIZED. ACCESS CODE AKNOWLEDGED. INPUT COMMAND."

"Establish cosmic link!"

How he had waited to say that line. The one line that would complete his plan. And as he said, it, the words he had wished for came.

"3, 2, 1... PROCEEDING."

The rush of power was incredible. He felt it go through him, filling all of his body. His eyes glowed, the energy making his body glow and flare like a supernova. Massive rays of energy errupted from his body as distorted, blue stars begun to form all around the jester. Time and space begun to warp, the very fabric of reality changing as the stars solidified into what seemed to be solid ground, massive explosions peppering the surface, newborn stars and endless horizons forming. The dawn of a new genesis was coming and he was at its center. At long last, his...

"Oh... err... WHAT? You got to be kidding me!"

It was that infernal blue pest riding a Warp Star? But HOW? Meta Knight cannot use the Warp Star! His mind is too warped, too blockaded by the traumatisms inflicted upon him by Arthur! He has lost the purity of mind required to call it! Even if that stupid girl, Fumu, was to summon it for him, he can't control it! This is impossible! Totally impossible!

Yet, he could see it happen. The stupid puffball on the golden star, holding tight, heading toward him.

He was not going to be denied. Not this time. If that puffball want war, then he shall have it!

The jester unleashed his power and projected an aura of gravity upon the great field of stars he had created. With a deafening bang, he landed on the plane of endless horizons while he watched the grip of his gravitational field grip the Warp Star, plucking it from the sky. It crashed near the jester with a satisfying explosion.

... only for the blue puffball to walk out unscatted. The jester glared and before long, the two were staring at each others, Mety finally closing the gap...

"Marx..." he said, staring at his enemy.

"Meta Knight..." gone was the casual, whimsical voice the jester had always used. His voice was now a far less monotone, far more truthful voice tone, Marx's real voice tone, one that was dripping with arrogance, contempt, and barely hidden rage.

How long had it been since that infernal jester had come to Dreamland, killed Kirby, brought so much misery? Many times, Mety had dreamed of finally ending this threat but they had always fought indirectly, by proxy, never confronting each others directly. Even last time, he had run away, letting the jester's tricks get to him. There would be no running away this time, no tricks. One of them would die right here, right now. And Mety had every intention of making it so that it would be Marx.

"A thorn on my side to the bitter end, Failure Knight. Can't say I'm surprised. Although I'm genuinely shocked you're sane enough to be able to use the Warp Star. Thought the Star Warriors had messed your mind up enough to stop you from ever using it."

"Let's say, you proved to have an use. For once." It was now Mety's turn to smirk at the jester. Apparently, Marx didn't like that as his soft, comical smile melted away into a snarling, raging frown.

"You do realize it's pointless, right? You can never defeat me, Failure Knight! You've never been able to protect anyone from me! You couldn't even protect your own mind from me! Just go crawl back to your rotten little Dreamland, put that mask on of yours, and then we can forget about how you've always let everyone you ever cared for die, okay?"

"No. Not anymore. Never again. You know I'm not walking away. I should have gutted you where you stood the day you killed Kirby. But I was too afraid to do so. But you've shown me how foolish I was. You were right. I was a failure. But I'm done being that. So now I'll do what I should have done on that day."

So that was it. That was why he was so determined. His schemes had backfired. He had hoped to break the knight completely with his final scheme with the fake Nightmare and well, he had... but rather than leave emptiness behind, it had allowed the young Star Warrior who had lived in the knight's shadow to finally come to life. It was... an original outcome. An annoyingly surprising one but one he can deal with.

"Well, okay, I'll give you that. But do you really think you can win? You do realize I'm a Command Unit in the Dark Matter Collective and that I just boosted my power even further by using Nova? Even if you're a Star Warrior, even if you're determined, even with that fancy Galaxia knife of yours, you're still no match for me, Failure Knight! I may be good at making gags but if you try to fight me, I'll make a joke out of you!"

As if on cue, the blue puffball took out the sacred blade. The jester noticed that the blade became smooth, the prongs disappearing as the blade became surrounded with swirling, fiery golden energy, the sword's true power coming to life. That was... thoroughly unexpected. He shouldn't be able to unleash the true power of a Legendary Weapon. No Star Warrior alive had that kind of power. Still, the jester was confident. The power that his creation, Nova, gave him, was still superior.

"Speaking of a joke, your diversion wasn't much of one." taunted the knight. "Your Dark Matter Collective isn't as mighty as they think. I don't know what you seek to achieve with that 'Nova' thing but it won't do you or your masters any good."

Then Marx did something that surprised the blue puffball. The jester burst into laughter, actual laughter. He just stood there, cackling manically, making the child pause and wonder if he had said something funny.

"My masters? You really don't get it, do you? The Fountain of Dreams is the nexus of all dreams, of all nightmares! Whoever control its cosmic power control the universe! That loser, Nightmare, became the Dark Lord by usurping its power. Now that you destroyed it, the power is unstable and it has allowed my so-called master to incarnate himself... but you know what? I couldn't care less about the Dark Matter Collective!"

The jester's expression broke into a maniacal, sadistic smirk. "The master is weak right now, pathetically so. He's unfit to be the Dark Lord! However, you see, the Fountain of Dreams isn't necessary, really. You just need... an equivalent. And well, Nova is that equivalent! So don't you get it now? Do you finally get it? Using Nova, I tap into the very power of the universe! I... wield the very power of all darkness! I do not need a master! I AM the master!"

At this moment, the jester's figure begun to rise and then, he begun to convulse. Massive clawed limbs tore their way out of his back, a long tongue dropped out of his mouth, and a golden amulet formed around the 'neck' of the monster as Marx took on his true form, hexagonal light shooting out of his wings, his power reflecting into the endless seas of stars.

"Gaze upon the form of the universe's new god!" called Marx. "I shall bring forth a new genesis, rule existence in ways far beyond that unlamented has-been Nightmare and my former, self-important 'master'! As for you, you little pest... you shall have the honor of being the first life-form I shall wipe out from existence!"

Mety frowned. He had heard enough of that nutcase, more than enough. "You're completely insane! Bonkers, mad, a nutcase! You think you're a god? You're just a monster! And I'm gonna prove it!"

The blue puffball charged through the seas of stars, Galaxia glowing in holy flames. At long last, the time had come to avenge his pink counterpart and to end Marx's madness once and for all.

"KNOW YOUR PLACE, MORTAL!"

The response was instantaneous. Marx retracted his wings and then flared them out, unleashing his wrath. A barrage of stars shot from the frame of the demented Chimera, spinning like blades, flying all over the place into the distorted space, bouncing and rolling around like boomerangs. None of them came even close to hitting the Star Warrior as he leaped in-between blades before swinging the holy blade with all of his strength.

Marx's eyes bulged as the sacred sword made a massive gash into his face. He had... understimated the power of Galaxia. The transfer of power of the Fountain of Dreams into his body was not yet completed. In fact it had just begun and he had suspected he would still be mortal and vulnerable... but he hadn't thought that being struck with Galaxia would hurt that much.

Unwilling to let that stupid pest stop him, the jester Chimera tapped into the fabric of reality and rewrote his place in the scheme of things, his body vanishing in a purple flash before reappearing in a different spot. It wasn't exactly the spot he had thought of but he still recovered his smile.

"Behold my power of creation, bestowed upon me by Nova! I am sure you shall enjoy... being entangled with it!" taunted the jester before sending himself flying upward.

Mety then saw them. A rain of green. The blue puffball ran through the sea of stars, sidestepping each of the strange green projectiles as they slammed into the endless horizons, vanishing upon impact. Then, after a surprisingly short amount of them dropping, Marx reappeared in view.

"That's all? Rather underwhelming, you big buffoon!" Mety felt confident.

Marx simply snapped his fingers.

Then in flashes of light, at every spot where the strange green things had landed, massive pillars of green thorns shot to the sky. Mety found himself surprised and felt pain as some of the pillars almost speared through his body, the thorns grazing his skin. Marx was cackling madly at the blue puffball's incomfort as he found himself burried in a sea of vines.

FWOOOSH!

The vines vanished in golden flames as Mety unleashed the wrath of Galaxia. Marx's laughter vanished but his expression did not change.

"What's the matter, Failure Knight? You don't like plants? Vegetables are good for you, Failure Knight!"

"My name is Mety!" The puffball charged, unleashing a particularly strong slash, sending a wave of energy flying straight toward the infernal jester.

But the wave hit empty space as the monster teleported out of the way only to reappear behind the infant.

"SURPRISE!"

Mety spun to face Marx. Simultaneously, Marx's body errupted into energy, what seemed to be thousands of arrows shooting out of his body. The blue puffball stagged back, feeling them slashing into every part of his body, unable to think or to react as blood flew as cuts multiplied at an alarming rate on his frame. It just kept going on and on... and on...

Then, as it stopped, Mety fell on his knees, blood pouring from the numberless small cuts the arrows had caused only to be sent catapulting backward as Marx charged him, slamming both of his shoes straight into the puffball's forehead, sending him spiraling into the distorted ground.

"What's the matter, Failure Knight? Feeling a bit under the weather?"

That... had not felt good. But the cuts were not that deep and although he was covered in red, it wasn't that bad actually. Still, he found himself not liking just how much the universe spun as he got back on his feet.

He shook his head and gripped Galaxia's handle harder. He wouldn't let Marx use anymore of his crazy powers.

Mety charged forward and then leaped into the air, trying to reach the jester with his blade... but the jester just teleported out of the way and before the puffball even landed, Marx emerged from the ground, flying straight upward. His claws slashed into Mety on the way up, making a long cut into his lower body and sending him right back, causing him to landed painfully on his backside.

"Pfft, Star Warriors and their love of swords. Always so predictable. Come on! You're supposed to be the last obstacle between myself and total universal domination! I get better challenges out of trying to comw up with jokes bad enough to entertain Dedede!"

Mety has had about enough of that jester. He was bruised, cut all around, bleeding, his ego bruised, his home and friends threatened, and now that stupid Chimera thinks he's a god or something? He had just about of that bully. He brought nothing but misery ever since he arrived. Killing Kirby, destroying people's homes, freezing people, giving Dedede ideas about bullying people even worse, threatening him and his friends, and now trying to take over the world... he was sick of it, so completely sick.

The blue puffball got ahold of himself and straightening himself, stared at Marx.

"Pah! Look at yourself! So serious and all! You think you're some kind of hero, some kind of knight, a Star Warrior? You're a kid! Little more than a toddler just like Kirby! You think that you spent one hundred years with that loser Arthur made you anything better than the pink one was? You're a failure! You're nothing! So here's a joke kiddo! COOL OFF!"

Marx unleashed his wrath, pure and unfettered. The spiky black ball that fell from his mouth impacted against the endless of stars, creating a shockwave, ethereal in its lethal beauty, swirling blue spheres expanding to form a single ripple spreading through the universe made solid by his power. Mety stared fearlessly as the freezing wave approached. Marx wished for him to be stilled forever, for his life to be extinguished.

It was a terrifying attack, true... but the blue puffball was not scared. Not anymore. Marx was agile and fought dirty, using his powers to counter the Star Warrior's skills with his sword. But the child did not need the power of Galaxia to overcome this foe. As he looked into the beautiful but deadly ice wave, he knew exactly how he'd be able to turn the tide of this battle.

Marx laughed as the blue puffball opened his mouth wide and inhaled.

"HA! What do you think you're doing, chump? You think this is gonna help you? You're even dumber than I thought! You can't vacuum me up! There's barely any air in there except for the thin cover I spread around this sea of stars anyway!"

The jester shook his head in disbelief before resuming his cackling. The ice wave passed through the spot where the puffball was, surely reducing his foe to little more than a lifeless ice block. Well, so much for that puffball... wait what?

What is that blue pest doing still standing unfrozen?... and isn't that... oh no. Oh no he didn't!

Mety had inhaled the portion of the attack that had been heading for him, finding himself suddenly with the characteristic hat atop his shape. He swung Galaxia in one of his paws, smirking. It was a taunt and the jester sure knew it, his smile now replaced with a very angry expression.

"You think your little vacuum cleaner act will save you, Failure Knight? Eat this then!" roared the Chimera before unleashing his power once more, throwing dozens of his boomerang stars all over the place.

Mety didn't dodge this time, he didn't need to. Instead, he took a deep breath and then blew with all of his strength. As the barrage came straight from him, the massive blades were intercepted by the large clouds of freezing gas, Marx's attack stopping completely in mid-air, just in front of the blue puffball. The jester's mouth just dropped at the sight.

"You got to be kidding me..."

The blue child did not hesitate. He leaped into the air, kicking into many of the frozen blades, catching others with Galaxia, smashing more with his paws. Before long, the barrage was sent heading straight back at the Chimera. Marx's eyes widened as he saw his own attack practically reflected back at him. He begun to swerve desesperately, trying to evade the frozen blades, absolutely not appreciating the irony as he found himself outsmarted by a stupid blue kid. But despite Marx's best efforts, his true form's large size was playing against him, causing many of the blades to tear into his wings, to catch his face, to even damage that big ribbon he kept on him.

In desesperation, the demented Chimera teleported forward... only for his eyes to widen, his entire body flinching as Mety struck with Galaxia, slashing into the monster's back. The attack cut the chain of Marx's pendant, sending spiraling off his frame, leaving him to look quite tattered. Almost spontaneously, Marx teleported again, appearing above the blue puffball, his face deforming into a mix of growing aggravation and rage.

"You... YOU-!"

"What's the matter, Marx? Aren't you supposed to be a god or whatever?"

That was the last straw. For that pest to throw his words back at him in such a mocking way! He's the one doing the mocking, not the other way around!

"That's IT! I'm done with you, DONE! Prepare yourself to join your stupid, dead pink counterpart!"

The giant beam of light that errupted out of Marx's mouth was a really impressive one. It tore through the sea of stars, making cracks in it, pillars of light shooting up from every part of the distorted, illusionary landscape. Yet to Marx's frustration, the puffball simply ran, dodging the attack easily. The jester brought himself closer to the ground but the blue pest just puffed up its cheeks and hovered above his second laser. Then as he was charging a third one, Mety dropped from above, slicing into the Chimera's face once more with the sacred blade.

That... that was not right! Meta Knight and Kirby are confirmed to be lousy fighters by every source in the Dark Matter Collective! Sure, he'd understand that the blue pest could fight off a bunch of Dark Limbas but to actually be winning against him, especially with Nova's power coursing his veins? What's going on? Since when did Meta Knight actually know how to use his abilities and powers effectively? Kirby and Meta Knight dodge attacks by tripping, falling down, and then catching the attack thrown at them with their face!

He was not willing to lose! He wouldn't lose! Marx roared in pure anger, lashing out with his boomerang blades again. With parts of his wings cut and bleeding, the attack was nowhere near as precise as before but it didn't matter as Mety inhaled the blades going his way and just as Marx finished his attack and was to look at the blue pest to see if he was dead yet, he received a boomerang blade straight in his face.

This did it. The Chimera dropped to the ground and stagged, clawing at its own face in agony, trying to unstick the blade that had plunged into his face. Mety took the opportunity and gripping one of the boomerang blades from the Cutter Ability like a sword, slashed at Marx's face, cutting into his eyes, tearing off his ribbon, damaging his foes, and then leaping and bringing the blade down, knocking the fiend backward.

Marx teleported out again, finally managing to take that stupid blade out of his face. Everywhere, the entire universe spun. His body was starting to break down, his eyes almost blinded by the numerous cuts, his entire body oozing blood from every part. The power was pulsating, great explosions peppering the sea of stars, the dimensional anomly failing and flashing colors as it fell apart, Nova's power starting to shortcircuit. That stupid puffball was, somehow, killing him... and that realization filled Marx's heart with hatred.

The arrow attack had worked well, last time. He decided to repeat it. Just as Mety charged toward him, wielding Galaxia in one paw, a boomerang cutter in the other, the demented Chimera folded the fabric of space around him, teleporting right behind the blue puffball.

But just as he was about to unleash his rain of arrows, the puffball just... jumped? Not leaped anywhere, just jumped on the spot. Marx did not care at this point. He was done talking, done thinking, done with the subtle approach. He was going to kill that blue pest right here, right now.

Of course, the reason why Mety had just jumped was that he had thrown the cutter blade in front of him and then leaped over it instead of catching it when it went back toward him. Conveniently, it flew straight for Marx and slammed right into the jester's face, cutting into his tongue. The pain was such that Marx flinched. This was inconvenient as this was the same moment he had unleashed his attack, causing him to overshoot and throw his arrow rain into deep space, not even coming close to strike his target.

As Marx pulled the blade out of his mouth, he couldn't help but find himself feeling faint. He had been so injured, so hurt by all of Mety's attacks that the blood that poured was no longer red. He could see the black sludge that came from his half-Dark Matter origins begin to show in the red stains, his very life force seeping away from his breaking, collapsing body. For all of his efforts, for all of the power he was pouring into his attacks, that pest was somehow killing him...

"Is that it?" Mety said, discarding his ability. For some reason, his voice was not mocking, just... rather surprised, maybe even disappointed and sad in a way. "For someone who call himself a god, you sure aren't a very skilled fighter. I had more difficulty fighting Ice Dragon and Box Boxer! I mean... those bullies back at the castle were meaner than you! I... I almost can't believe someone as weak as you killed Kirby..."

Marx's eyes flared in pure rage. Oh no, the Failure Knight had not just insinuated that! Suddenly, all of the pain, all of the weakness in his body was unimportant. All he felt was rage and the single-minded desire to end that puffball's life.

"Sh... shlu... shlup UP!" With half of his tongue barely hanging from his mouth by a thread of nerve, saying those words was difficult for the jester. Not that he cared.

Marx brought himself upward. That pitiful pest thinks he's weak? He's tap into cosmic power! He'll use the power of the eternal, infinite darkness to destroy him completely and utterly!

"WARNING. POWER INTAKE BEYOND SAFETY MEASURES." the voice of Nova echoed in his mind, detecting his attempt to draw upon the power of all nightmares using it. He ignored the warning.

"WARNING. POWER INTAKE BEYOND SAFETY MEASURES." It repeated, as Marx's body begun to glow in a sickly green light.

"WARNING. POWER INTAKE BEY-BEY-BEYOND. WARNING. OVERHEAT."

He didn't care if the attack might kill him or even destroy Nova. All he cared for at this point was to kill Meta Knight.

"GYYYAAAARG-AAAARG-ARRRG!"

Marx's twisted scream of part-agony, part-beserk rage seemed to echo into Mety's mind. The evil Chimera had obviously performed an attack but the sheer sight of it made the blue puffball stagger back, his stomach convulsing in his body in repulsion. Marx's skin tore apart, blood splattering like fireworks as his body split into two, his gaze turning blank. The energy he had gathered, now stuck in-between his two body halves, seemed to convulse. Whatever Marx was doing, he was putting so much power into it that even with Nova's power, he could barely control it.

Then, Marx's two halves vanished in purple energy and everything seemed to slow down as the very fabric of space distorted as if the energy had collapsed upon itself, forming a miniature black hole. Even with the lack of air, even with how little this strange sea of stars made sense, Mety still felt himself pulled toward the hole. He turned around and ran as much as he could, glancing back...

... but for some reason, he was still getting closer to that thing. He found himself panting. The bizzare physics of the anomaly didn't cross his mind as he just ran for dear life. But despite his best efforts, the hole was growing closer and closer and closer...

Feeling his feet start to leave the seas of stars, Mety swung Galaxia and slammed it into the imaginary ground. Gripping the handle with both paws, he held on for dear life...

... then suddenly, the pull was gone, the hole was gone, space was back to looking relatively normal minus the sea of stars, and the strange gravity took hold of him. That meant-

Bam!

"Po-OW!"

Well, he could have done so without slamming into the ground like this. Still, as he got back to his feet, he looked around and recovered his serious expression, focusing back on the situation as he saw Marx hovering by. His eyes were twitching madly, his entire body dripping with a mix of black ooze and blood, the bottom half of his tongue somewhere in the sea of stars. He was just hovering there, cackling insanely, his body shaking from the waves of energy going through him.

He did not hesitate.

For Kirby. For Dreamland. For Pop Star. For all he took away from him. For all he should have done. To honor the memory of his counterpart.

Mety leaped through the air and plunged the sacred blade straight into the forehead of the Chimera. With a sickening, gooey scrunch, it pierced straight through, silencing the jester once and for all. Still holding into the blade by the handle, the blue child stared into the eyes of his foe as they slowly spun to focus on the blade and then back to him...

"I... I shpill... shpill wim..." He managed to croak at the puffball.

Mety kicked straight into Marx's right eye, pulling Galaxia straight out of the Chimera and catapulting himself off of the jester. Sure, he landed straight on his face instead of on his feet but as he got up and saw Marx's body convulsing, he knew it didn't matter.

Marx's body was racked by explosions. Parts of his wings just burst into pieces as the power inside of him went critical. The very seas of stars begun to fall apart beneath the blue puffball's feet, infant stars dying and exploding into massive supernovas as the anomaly died with its creator. Marx rolled his eyes and then, shot straight toward Nova...

He looked almost like a beam of light, or some reverse shooting star, as he vanished into the distance...

BRAAOOOOOOM!

* * *

><p>Fumu watched the skies in worry. Even from the planet's surface, Marx's weapon was so massive that it could be seen through the daytime sky's cover. Then there was the way space distorted, a strange line of blue forming near it. So many questions went through her mind...<p>

When Knuckle Joe, Silica, Blade, Sword, and Mety had come out of the castle, they had left without explanation, departing straight to space. Somehow, she had guessed it had been related to Marx. And a while ago, she had been asked to call the Warp Star.

The Warp Star...

She had not been sure Mety would be able to use it. Each Warp Star was supposed to be unique, to belong to a special entity to begin with. Kirby had used it during his life, many times. Had Mety been able to use it? Had the summon succeeded to begin with? As he had been in space, she had not seen the result of her attempt, reduced to just wait and hope...

Then, it had happened. She had shielded her eyes, the light being so intense. Somehow, Marx's weapon had exploded, turning right into a massive fireball. The blue band had distorted and disappeared in what seemed to be a serie of titanic explosions. No sounds had come, being that the explosions had taken place in space but the sheer light it had caused was more than enough to convince her of what had happened.

Did this means... that Mety had somehow won?

As the light died down, she slowly looked to the skies. In all of Cappy Town, the people begun to leave their homes. The explosions had been so massive, nearly everyone on Pop Star had to have seen them and although few knew that Mety was out there, all hoped for his safety.

"Mety..." she whispered. Surely... he'd come back, right?

He had become so... happy since he had removed his mask, since he had taken on this new name. He was still so shy, not used to just being himself but everyone was adapting and well, he was her friend, as he always had been. If he didn't return...

"He's... gonna come back, right?" Bun had heard his sister as she had spoken in the communicator, saw her attempt to call the Warp Star. He had guessed what had just happened.

Fumu was silent. She just watched as the explosions dissipated and the sky rebecame silent. Seconds turned to minutes and whispers filled Cappy Town...

He... he would come back right. He had won, right? Surely... surely...

"Hey! What's this?"

One of the Cappies pointed to the sky. Her gaze shifted and it was then that she saw it. What seemed to be a shooting star but with a strange, powdery trail behind it. She knew what it was...

He had made it. He had indeed defeated Marx, at long last...

* * *

><p>"I still win... I still win..."<p>

It didn't matter if he die. To say the truth, he had thought it was not a factor, that he would most certainly win. But a true genius always has backup plans and Marx knew that he'd be vulnerable right after absorbing Nova's power. Thus, he had a final plan in store just in case.

Indeed, it was not needed for him to live physically for him to succeed nor did he need Nova in truth. The truth was that the second that Nova had established the link, the whole thing had become a moon-sized paperweight. Sure, if he had lived, he would have been able to see his powers progressively grow as he absorbed more of the universe's darkness and became the new Dark Lord but it wasn't important.

The link was established. Throwing himself into Nova and then unleashing it into the machine had destroyed it, allowing him to fully absorb its power. It seemed like a foolish, non-sensical move but it was all part of his final plan.

"I have won." said the lifeless body of the jester, morphed back to its peaceful, small form, surrounded by the useless debris of Nova, now drained of their power.

The jester saw the void, the void in which all life begin and to which all return. He saw the endless, cosmic emptiness and from it was a darkness unlike anything existence could conceive. Existence... such a pitiful thing. Still, he wished to rule it all and he would.

He could see it in the void, the lifeless child, the pink puffball. So pathetic, so weak, now even more pathetic with one eye gone and the other turned red and hollow with a darkness unlike any other. Such a pathetic, little child! To think that the other members of the Dark Matter Collective call that thing their 'master'! Oh sure, he can spy her infinite power at work, the very void watching through the lone remaining eye of the dead child but the truth was that it was still a dumb, dead pink puffball and one unworthy of being the Dark Lord.

"Power shift quickly within the Collective. I'm afraid I'll be taking over, puffball!" he taunted.

The dead merely smiled peacefully, his expression not changing. "Oh really?"

"Yeah. To think you call yourself Zero! Sure, I can feel part of the spirit but in essence, you're still Kirby, a pathetic dumb little kid with limited powers and a dumb little Star Warrior fate. Apart from your connection to the void, being dead, you're nothing special."

Somehow, Kirby didn't seem bothered. He just smiled peacefully and calmly, his expression not changing. Somehow... this creeped out the jester. He wasn't even insulted or worried a tiny little bit?

"And...?" replied the pink puffball, his tone vaguely bored.

"Well, I have a link to the void, to the darkness now too. Except that there is a difference between us. You see, I'm a better, stronger host. So you see, 'Zero', you're no Dark Lord. As we struggle to control the void, you'll lose. But if you don't struggle, I got the connection so I still win."

"I know that already." Marx had anticipated many answers but he had never anticipated that one in particular. It kind of... made him pause.

"So... what are you waiting for? You waited for literal trillions of years to incarnate yourself. There's no shame in losing, 'Zero'. Living on as Kirby may not be the same as becoming the embodiment of all darkness but it's something."

"I won't struggle."

And then, Marx's mind went blank with confusion. That last reply just made something break. It just... didn't make sense. It didn't fit with what he thought of his master's personality at all. Why would a being of infinite hatred just let him win like this?

"Not even a little bit? You're just letting me take your throne like this?"

"Yes. You want the power of infinite darkness? Then take it."

That was wrong, that was just wrong. It was too easy. Marx had expected Zero to resist, to struggle. He hadn't expected the queen to just hand the power to him like this! This had to be a trap somehow, Zero is supposed to be even smarter than him, to be a mind of such incomprehensibly huge knowledge that even his intellect couldn't match it!

But then, as he stared at how utterly calm the pink puffball was, he figured he knew after all. Zero is not fully incarnated yet. After all, Zero is everything that cannot possibly exist, it is the void given life, it is pure wrath given breath. It is a being of such incomprehensibly terrible evil that not even Nightmare can comprehend it. It is a power older than the very concept of reality, than time itself. The First and the Last, the Zero from which all darkness originate. The Angel, the Alpha and the Omega.

But right now, Zero was also Kirby, the dead puffball. Kirby was not the embodiment of all darkness and it would take time for Kirby and Zero to fully become one. Right now, he was more Kirby than Zero. The very fact that Kirby almost exploded from what was but an infinitely small fraction of Zero's power should show how far from ready he was to be Zero. He must know. He must know that he is too weak to struggle against him, that he cannot possibly defeat him. And as a genius, Zero would thus logically accept.

Eagerness filled the jester'S mind. At long last, ultimate power was his!

True to his words, Zero let go of his connection, briefly becoming only the dead Kirby.

Marx saw the past, he saw the present, he saw the future. So many events, so many possibilities! His lifeless eyes lit up as the fragments of Nova gathered. So many things he can do, so many concepts he didn't know of! The void... the void was even larger than infinity itself. It couldn't be comprehended. He wasn't even sure he comprehended or that what he now knew could even be considered a concept of comprehension. He saw... so much, so many memories, all feelings. His mind spreaded, watching everything, further than even Nightmare had ever reached. He saw dying stars, newborn stars, so much. His knowledge was void, nothingness, for infinity paled with the impossible concepts that filled his expanding mind.

His body begun to transform again, to warp. His tongue regenerated, his eyes healed, his wings returned... but the power exploded. He didn't care, he didn't feel. He was everything, he was everyone. He allowed his golden wings to become soaked in red, to let his bones tear out of his skin. His amulet returned, distorting and glowing. His voice echoed, the voice of no one and everyone at once.

He became more than infinity itself and he realized that he had succeeded. He was now...

Kirby smirked devilishly, his lone eye glowing in pure maleovence, waiting for Marx to complete that thought.

"Go on. What are you now?"

Marx remained still and silent. This was normal for he was now emptiness itself, he was nothingness. Therefore, his soul had ceased to exist. He was now Zero, a nothingness that couldn't be and little more than a fleshy, mindless sock puppet.

"Well, what do you know? Trying to channel infinite power through a finite mind fries it. I guess you didn't see that coming, isn't it Marx?" taunted Kirby. "Of course, you can't really reply since you no longer exist and I'm just talking to myself now."

Zero nodded to himself, satisfied with the result. "Still, if you still existed, I'd probably taunt you by telling you that you had overlooked the fact that your plan relied upon me struggling, thus slowing down the flow of power to something your pathetic little still-living soul could handle. You had overlooked that the reason Kirby's mind did not pop like a grape like yours just did is that Kirby, being dead, no longer existed and therefore was already one with me. But you weren't and thus now you aren't."

The pink puffball joined his paws behind his back, staring at the empty body that was now Marx.

"I wonder how you'd react if you still existed and realized your plan had always been doomed to begin with, that I allowed you to act because I always knew you'd betray me and that you'd shoot yourself in the foot without me having to lift a finger. Maybe you'd be upset, or angry, or maybe sad? Still, you have served me well in life. You will serve me well in death too."

Zero's lone eye glowed and he made Marx's body move before him, bowing before him. It was a bit more awkward than controlling the Dark Matter Collective hive mind but he'd get used to it.

"Now now now... what name should I give to you, hmmm? Probably something ironic, it seems to amuse my minions. What about Marx Soul, since you no longer have one?"

Zero moved a paw, making Marx Soul nod in approval.

"Good. Excellent."

With that said and done, Zero cut off the connection. It was now time to begin the next phase of his plan.

* * *

><p><strong>TO BE CONTINUED...<strong>


	9. A Mask from the Past

**OFF:** How long has it been? Months, plural. Inspiration was killed something fierce and many other projects which I wanted to work on and finish, including one small video game.

Now that I have finished my game, I have a gap in my free time for fanfics. Likewise, my recent acquisition of Kirby Dream Collection allowed me to immerse myself in the setting again, re-igniting my inspiration spark.

First, replies to reviewers.

_Mcpetikas:_ Zero is using Kirby as her host body. Marx attempted to hijack Zero's power and she simply allowed him to shoot himself in the foot. As for the video, Zero knows that Kirby is a trans-galactic symbol (since he defeated Kirby) and thus used his image to destabilize the worlds and open them to a surprise attack.

_Lunara the Ara:_ Yes, Zero is using Kirby's body as her 'gateway' into the universe. As for it 'going too fast', to be fair, it was specifically the battle. The battle mirrors the games' version, with Marx's power crafting a solid field of stars on which most of the fight takes place. Oh and yes, this is nowhere near the end ; more like the half-way point.

Now, I will admit that I am unsure if this chapter will be up to par ; part of why my inspiration died was that I was unsure if the scenes in this chapter flowed well. I really hope that it will have proved to be worth the wait.

Enjoy!

* * *

><p><strong>HONOR THE PAST<strong>

CHAPTER 7:  
>A Mask from the Past<p>

* * *

><p>The blue puffball was looking so peaceful as he slept. Although it was many hours since it was over, the celebrations still continued in his own mind. The rush had been... wonderful. To see so many waiting for him, to see so many cheer for him, to see so many care for him and appreciate him, it had given him strength. Even though the damaged Warp Star had not flown straight, even if he had ultimately crashed it, it hadn't mattered. He had forgotten all the pain, forgotten all of his injuries, just basking into the smiles he had brought to so many.<p>

He had repelled the Dark Matter Collective's invasion, destroyed that infernal transporter machine once and for all, and foiled Marx's plans for galactic domination. He had finally done it. He had finally managed to protect somebody, to stop bad guys from taking from him what he cared about, from bringing misery to those he cared for.

In a corner of his mind, he knew it was not over. Even though Knuckle Joe and Silica hadn't explained anything yet, he suspected this was only the beginning. Nightmare was not behind this, he had made sure of this for good. But he felt like he could take on anything, on anyone.

As he finished replaying the short-lived but festive celebrations that marked the destruction of the transporter and the safeguard of Dreamland in his mind, his dream wandered off.

He had failed so many people, ran away so many times, got hurt so much. So many images of warped, twisted, charred bodies... the bodies of those he had called his friends, only Blade and Sword escaping the carnage. When he had recognized figures in his dream, he hadn't known what to think, what to say... but as he saw the figure of Jecra, sitting in the shade of a tree with Kirby standing at his side, Mety had smiled to the images of his friends.

"I... I've done it. Marx and Nightmare are gone." he had felt himself choking up.

The images of his two friends approached the blue puffball. There was a smile on the older Star Warrior's face, the humanoid-like one nodding in approval. So did Kirby, grabbing and holding one of his paws. He... he smiled back at them. It was so... easy, so much easier than frowning. He... he just had to let his heart flutter, to let that rising weightlessness in his soul take hold and just to let his face move on its own...

"We know."

"Meta! Meta hero!"

The blue child glanced at the town, illuminated in the night by the lights of celebration. He... yes, he finally was one. He looked back to his friends, feeling tears welling up. He didn't even notice it, he just felt... he felt...

"I wish you had been there to see me..."

"We saw you, Mety. You honored your duties. I always knew you would be a magnificent Star Warrior."

"Meta! Poyo! Meta has friends now!"

Yes, so many friends, so many... no one fearing him, no one hating him. Playing with them, living with them, protecting them, accepting them...

So many figures, numberless in the shadows. Some he recognized, others he didn't. So many Star Warriors, so many dead. Nightmare is gone, they have all been avenged. He saw Jecra marching off to join them while his counterpart lagged a bit behind, waving good-bye at the blue puffball. Mety waved back. He... had lived in shame for so long. But at long last, he had avenged them and he had gained friends and a home. He was a true Star Warrior now...

The figures all vanished. It was as if they had never even been there. With the past finally at rest, Mety turned back to Cappy Town. He wished to join them, to move forward. He ran, ran toward his friends, toward the place where he belonged. No shame, no Nightmare, no Marx... just his friends and the future. Regardless of what it would contain, he'd face it. He was worthy now, he had honored his duties at long last.

Mety stopped. He blinked a few times as he watched off the road, in the shadows of some bushes. For a second, he thought he had seen...

No, the Star Warriors are all dead. And Arthur would be proud if he knew.

Near Mety, on a shelf in the room where he slept, the Star Rod glowed faintly, its warm light soothing the child as he snored slightly...

* * *

><p>The Waddle Dees moved with purpose, with speed, and with greater coordination than they ever achieved before. This didn't surprise the command unit as he knew that, being possessed by his Dark Limba minions, he was relaying his orders directly into their minds using the great hive mind of the Dark Matter Collective, not needing to bother with such bothersome, slow, and clunky methods as speech or radio.<p>

Still, part of the repairs included the great communication device. The systems had been damaged in the destruction of the transporter and as Chimeras, being half-breeds, did not have a complete connection to the hive mind like true Dark Matter entities, he would still require the use of the communications system. Still, the repairs were going just as planned and the Waddle Dees were proving to be exceptionally convenient hosts, having a very low level of resistance and a very high level of synchronization once their individuality was removed. There was also the fact that they were plentiful, which was always a plus.

Dark Reaper frowned slightly. His host body had great potential and it was baffling him that the NME had never thought of possessing this being or making a pact with it. But then, he reminded himself, Nightmare and his crew had never been really known for being clever. Still, this body would require a few adjustments before it was in optimal shape. Dedede had never cared much about exercise and it shown in his rather portly frame. This would not do and Dark Reaper had already come up for a few exercising programs and a new diet to take care of that.

Then of course, there were the improvements. In order not to raise suspicion, he'd lower himself to use a hammer just like his host had done when it had free will but still, he'd make sure to modify it a bit. Hollowing out the head, putting a few kinetic amplification systems, maybe even a thruster and a small fuel cell to really boost its power, re balance the weight for increased precision and better distribution of force upon impact... he'd definitely improve that weapon.

One of the Dark Limbas sent the command unit a thought. Something about the blue puffball's knaves making a round. It wasn't exactly a threat. After all, the walls had been repaired and were confirmed soundproof. Likewise, that blast door Marx had installed had been kept into place ; the days of the locals spying upon their king were now over completely. Still, it was good discipline for him to be kept aware of developments. Who knew what could happen at any moment, after all?

Dedede's eyes suddenly went blank as he fell into a state of deep trance, the Dark Matter command unit feeling the sudden, cold touch of his master's overwhelming, all-encompassing mind. He slumped into the throne, allowing his master to fill his mind, to make it his, to intertwine it with his.

There was no need for words, even mental ones. The master took his recent memories and perceptions and, seeing that all was going according to plan, became content, the calmness of the master's superior mind washing over Dark Reaper's own.

Escargoon was right at the side of the king. There was no need for spoken words, no need for their hosts to speak. The Dark Matters intertwined their minds and through the power of the hive mind, discussed.

The ruse had worked perfectly. Marx had been a fool. He had believed that because he was not completely in the hive mind, being a Chimera, no one had known of his actions. He had ignored even to the moment of his death that the Collective had been watching him the whole time and had predicted and took advantage of every move he had made. Dark Reaper couldn't help but chuckle, letting the short, acid, monotone laughter escape the beak of his unfortunate host. As if Marx could have seriously outsmarted and usurped Zero! Sure, Nightmare had managed to do this in the far past, countless millennia ago but that had been back when the Fountain of Dreams had been an unknown factor. That jester had been a total buffoon to believe that the master would allow such a scheme to work twice.

Still, Marx had done exactly as they had required him to and now, thanks to his efforts, the Dark Matters controlled this planet, every figure of authority that matters being infested by Dark Limbas while he, himself, is one with the king. Sure, there are a few locals like the mayor or those ministers that still retain their free will but they will not matter in the long term.

Escargoon had some pretty good questions, still. What now?

The blue Star Warrior was a growing threat. Somehow, the shame that should have debilitated him was fading and as it faded, his power was beginning to grow at an exponential pace. Sure, he was still very weak and little more than an insect that the Dark Matter Collective could swat at any moment but it was still bothering the Dark Limba possessing the snail.

Fortunately, the master had the perfect plan. Yes, Meta Knight had cast away his mask and became more than everyone had expected but he remained fundamentally, well, Meta Knight. As such, he had a fundamental mental weakness and one that both he and the master knew of. This weakness could be exploited to make him do what the master required. Once that final plan is completed, eliminating the blue puffball will be trivial... given he survive the ordeal to begin with.

Dark Reaper's mind spoke into that of his advisor and the lesser Dark Matter understood. It was a good plan, one that would accomplish several objectives all at once.

The two joined their minds and amplifying each others' powers, broadcasted their will across space and into the hive mind. Thousands of minds responded, hearing the call. It was time to lure the blue Star Warrior into position...

* * *

><p>"So if I understand you well... basically Meta Knight was unmasked, went nuts, and then finally accepted who he was also killing Nightmare once and for all in the process?"<p>

The two Demon Hunters definitely looked skeptical but after the almost alien behaviour that the knight had displayed, a part of them was still willing to listen. Still, this was... hard to believe. And Fumu realized it was. But then, just so much had happened that the other party had thought unbelievable. They all needed to know.

"If this helps convince you, after he ran off to pursue Nightmare, we organized a search party. We found him in a surreal-looking location that had not been recorded on any known map."

"And you truly believe this was not some trick? That he just ran off like that, achieved what hundreds of Star Warrior generations could not do in the space of a single night, and then just dozed off as if nothing had happened?" Silica was very skeptical Sure, Meta Knight was the wielder of Galaxia but this was... farfetched.

"We found the Star Rod just next to Mety when we found him alongside with the ruined remains of a fountain of sorts. Some sort of energy seemed to flow within the fountain's waters." Fumu said. "I still remember the feeling the Star Rod had when Kirby wielded it in his battle against Nightmare. It's the real thing. Its power drained somehow but it's the real thing. You must have felt it when you saw it too."

And that was the argument that couldn't be refuted and made this all the more disturbing. The Star Rod, a mythical weapon that was said to be the source of all dreams... Meta Knight was found with it dirtied, dropped into the mud near him. Likewise, the fountain seemed to have a shape in its top, as if the central part was meant to have something inserted into it... like the Star Rod, for example. But if this was true then...

"So all along, the source of Nightmare's immortality was on Pop Star, unprotected?" Silica still couldn't bring herself to fully believe it. It was just too incredible. Even after seeing the Star Rod itself, it was just hard to believe that the very source of Nightmare's power had been on some backwater planet, unprotected and ignored, all that time along when the entire galaxy burnt with the flames of war all around it.

Then that Meta Knight would lose his composure and just start acting like this... it was such a difference, he was almost a different person!

"Still, you mentioned that the enemy who attacked Dreamland was called the Dark Matter Collective, right?"

The change of subject was obviously welcome. It was time to bring up the main subject of this meeting. Knuckle Joe nodded at the two adults and their daughter. "Not too long ago, some kind of organization called the Dark Matter Collective announced their intentions to conquer the galaxy, calling to everyone to just surrender to them. They..."

The moment of hesitation was very noticeable and very awkward. Why had the two Demon Hunters just paused like this, looking at each others? To say the truth, in the aftermath of the Dark Matters' failure to conquer Dreamland, the two had sat down and discussed at length about how to bring up that particular point. But it was funny, even though they had agreed, they still hesitated at this very moment...

"Well, they claimed Kirby was leading them. Then they showed Kirby giving a speech... and then inhaling and copying something to prove it was genuine."

Fumu's reaction was about the same as that of every other single person who had learnt of it. Kirby was leading the enemy force? This was ridiculous, laughable! He is dead, buried on Pop Star! But then, that the Dark Matter Collective could engineer a false scenario in which their lookalike would copy something was... disturbing. As the young girl's jaw dropped at the news, the Demon Hunters continued their explanation...

"We all know it's fake, it has to be for very logical reasons but it still paralyzed and shocked everyone long enough to give the Dark Matters the opportunity to strike. We've all seen the situation on Pop Star, with the enemy flooding from the transporter. It's even worse out there. There are enemy fleets, huge ones, of liquid-like spherical black ships bombarding and overtaking planets, one after another. The Galactic Star Soldier force is paralyzed and still trying to make head or tails of what's happening. I think it's best not to lie. The situation is very ugly out there."

But as Knuckle Joe finished, the female armored hunter's gaze focused upon the other girl. She was shocked, even horrified by the news... but she was taking it well, too well. Then there was the fact that she had asked them to confirm that the foes were indeed the Dark Matter Collective. She knew something and it made the huntress cross her arms... but she decided to remain silent for now.

"So it was just as I had feared. This is not Nightmare's doing but a new enemy's..." it was mostly a remark for herself but Fumu still said it aloud, catching the two others' attention. She then nodded and elaborated. "Remember when I said that I went to see Kabu after Marx humiliated Mety? When I spoke to Kabu, he told me that he didn't know of a Demon Beast known as Marx but that he did know of a Chimera with the same name, a minion of the Dark Matter Collective. I was too shocked then to ask more questions and I was too worried about Mety but I guess this confirm what I had feared. The Dark Matter Collective is not some cover for the NME, it's a whole new enemy."

And that was another disturbing point. Sure, Nightmare had told everyone upon his defeat at the hands of Kirby that as long as fear exists in the hearts of people, evil will live on. But the cycle, as per the prophecy, was meant to repeat every millennium, not a mere few months after the collapse of the NME! Where do this new enemy come from, where did it get all its resources? This cannot be a branch of the NME that survived the collapse ; the strongest one was led by Yamikage and monitored very carefully and even it was unable to be a real threat. Likewise, if this Dark Matter Collective was indeed a branch of the NME, it wouldn't have led Meta Knight to Nightmare's core and allowed him to destroy it.

This brought forth a big question. The Fountain of Dreams is smashed, the Star Rod has lost its powers, Nightmare is dead for good now. What will happen regarding the cycle? Will there be everlasting peace after this new enemy is gone or maybe was the cycle there to protect them from... something? What should be done now?

Fumu and her parents had gathered the most important people in town and had begun to discuss it a bit. It had been agreed that the Fountain of Dreams was probably an important location and that they should probably try repairing it. Likewise, the Star Rod needed to be hidden from the new enemy so that if it returns, the sacred weapon does not fall into their hands. How to protect it, where to hide it? With Mety's rampage, the strange surreal land where it had been hidden was now exposed so it probably wasn't a good idea to rebuild the fountain there. But was it a good idea to rebuild it anywhere else? After all, who knows what strange effects the Star Rod could have. Maybe it will transform Cappy Town if they rebuild the fountain here...

And of course, this brought up the question of that enemy. What to do with it? She could already guess why the Demon Hunters had not departed to help the Galactic Star Soldier forces despite the urgency of the situation.

"So you want him to come." she said, breaking the silence and interrupting everyone's thoughts. Judging by the two's gazes and silence, she had guessed correctly and knew she had.

"With the transporter gone, the Dark Matters will have to get to Pop Star the long way. Besides, the base near here was one of the few that were spared from the great attack. Pop Star is safe for now. But there are many planets that are in complete disarray and the situation can be best summed up as complete pandemonium. Meta Knight is the last of the Star Warriors and the wielder of Galaxia. Even if he doesn't fight, just showing up will help rally the allied military fleets and Demon Hunters to repel the Dark Matters."

It was a good point. Mety is unneeded on this planet now and if the two are right, and Fumu didn't doubt them for a second, the situation was indeed warranting for Mety to go on a trip. But still, she couldn't help but feel a bit sad and uneasy about this. Mety had rediscovered his true nature and embraced it so little time ago and already, duty called to him. But then, she told herself, he had always wanted to protect people but had not dared to do so before, hiding behind his identity as Meta Knight. He was finally doing what he wanted to do and already, he had saved Pop Star.

"I get it. I think... it's alright." she said, a bit reluctantly. "I know I have control over the Warp Star but I think I'll stay with my family and help everyone. Whatever that Fountain of Dreams was, I think it might be best to repair it as soon as possible. Besides, we need to hide the Star Rod in case Mety needs it. Can't let the Dark Matters get a hold of it."

The two hunters understood very well and nodded. Fumu was maybe the youngest of the three but neither Knuckle Joe nor Silica were very old either. They knew of the stress that fighting evil brought and well, despite her hidden power the girl didn't have the training that either of the two had. Her place was not on a battlefield.

"It's alright. You have things to do as we do. Just give us a call if there's any hint of the Dark Matters sneaking past the defenses okay?"

She nodded, smiling. "Yes. Take care of Mety, okay?"

This made the two hunters smile. She was always worried about Kirby and Meta Knight. In a way, it was kind of cute and heartwarming seeing how many people cared for the knight. They nodded to show that they'd indeed make sure that he'd come back in one piece... not that he really needed their help but well, they'd still make sure.

As the conversation ended and the two left the room, Silica stopped in the door frame, not following the other hunter. She remained there, her gaze lowering as unease gnawing at her mind. She turned back to look at the other girl, still sitting there, watching her, waiting for her to leave...

"You're hiding something."

"Huh?"

"You're not saying something. I can tell." repeated the huntress, her gaze turning serious for a moment. "There's been something you've not been telling us."

Again with the strange unease. Ever since they had returned, Fumu had acted strangely. Not as radically as Meta Knight but it had been increasingly obvious. Then there were just some bits of what had happened that didn't make sense. How come Fumu attempted to call the Warp Star at all when the knight asked her to? She knew very well that Warp Stars are user-locked, that only Kirby can use it, control it. Yet when he had asked her, she had agreed to. And then, against all odds, it had actually worked. It was very suspicious to say the least...

The two girls found themselves in a short staring contest of sorts. The younger girl just looked down, glancing at the older one from time to time, as if hoping she'd lose interest. But she didn't and it became obvious that she wouldn't walk out with an answer. The hesitation and distress in Fumu's eyes... what exactly was she hiding that could make her be that way?

"You're not going to leave without answers, aren't you?" Indeed, she had guessed. She still hesitated, as if stalling for time, her gaze distant, somewhat haunted, as if she wasn't seeing the older hunter. "Do you remember... Kabu's prophecy? The one of the Star Warrior?"

The huntress nodded. "Yes, I remember. That a Star Warrior would arrive on Pop Star aboard a starship, that his name would be Kirby of the Stars, and that he'd protect the planet right?"

She nodded. Yes, that was the one.

"I asked Kabu if Meta Knight was truly a Demon Beast, just to make sure. It was... kind of silly, unimportant. And well, it just confirmed what he had told us. But then, I got curious and asked Kabu about if he knew if the pink Star Warrior, Kirby, was also a Demon Beast."

At that moment, Silica crossed her arms. "And he said he was one too? Is it what disturbed you so much? You know, if it doesn't matter for Meta Knight, then it shouldn't matter with Kirby too."

Fumu shook her head quickly. "No no, I know that! That isn't what bothered me. In fact, I had kind of guessed it, since I asked. No, the real problem was the way Kabu replied. He told me... that he never said that Kirby would be pink. Only that he'd be a Star Warrior, arrive in a starship, and be called Kirby."

For a moment, it didn't register. Kabu didn't say that Kirby would be pink? Did this mean that the pink puffball was not the Kirby of the prophecy but rather just what everyone assumed him to be? But then, who fitted the description? It wasn't as if any other Star Warrior puffball had arrived on Pop Star in a starship and... and...

...and Meta Knight. Star Warrior. Puffball. In a starship.

"...oh." There was nothing else she could think of.

"I... do not know what to think of it. I... I just... Look, can you keep this secret for now? Mety is still shaken up from what happened and well, he's so... happy now. I don't think he needs this kind of shock. Not now. Especially not now." pleaded the younger girl.

The huntress stood there. Slowly, her mind restarted to function as she took in the implications. She now understood why Fumu had kept this to herself all this time or why she had accepted to attempt to summon the Warp Star. It still didn't make much sense in many ways but for now, she guessed it was better to just proceed. Maybe, in time, they'll deal with this but not now.

"Alright then. I'll take care of Meta Knight..."

"Please call him Mety..."

"... Mety." she said, finally bothering to try and use the name she had insisted upon.

With that said, the huntress turned around and left the room, leaving the younger girl with her thoughts. There was much to do and everyone would soon be very busy...

* * *

><p>The blue puffball's eyes scanned the room, feelings and memories gently stirring and mixing within his young mind. Although the restaurant was empty, he could still hear the laughter of his pink counterpart and the voice of Chef Kawasaki as he tried his best at cooking. He remembered his own visits to this place. Kawasaki was a poor chef and despite his best efforts, his lack of talent shown in his dishes greatly. He had known this, the townspeople had warned him more than enough about it back then but he had been curious, wishing to see it for himself... and secretly hoping they'd be wrong. He remembered his own times in this place, knowing the dishes were always failures and yet, not unlike Kirby, not really caring. In a way, his appetite as a puffball made him ignore this. And in a way, it was amusing.<p>

He had spent so little time on Pop Star in comparison with his time in space and yet, the memories of this planet were so strong, so important. It made the young Star Warrior smile as he took a seat at one of the tables, reflecting upon it all. The contrast between Dreamland and the Galactic Star Soldier force couldn't be stronger in his mind. His time in space, in the war, had been characterized by shame, by fear, by despair. Fighting endless battles against an unending horde over pointless rocks knowing that all they were doing was merely buying time for the prophecy to come true... and of course, the fact that his nature brought forth hatred, suspicion, distrust. In Dreamland, no one had cared. They had found him borderline funny in his armor, with his big cape and his mask. They had just treated him like one more person and when his mask had been removed, they had embraced his nature. Rather than tell him to straighten himself and to think of his duties, Fumu and her friends had simply accepted him as one of their own, all playing together as if nothing had happened...

And of course, the memories of Kirby, his counterpart, his twin. So innocent, so happy, so pure... untouched by shame, untouched by the obsession for duty, untouched by prophecies, a child who lived his childhood as he should have. When he thought of it, Kirby had been lucky. His ship had crashlanded ahead of time, stranding him on a peaceful world where he was able to experience the joys of life, to truly understand what his duties revolved around. The blue child suddenly thought of all those other children who would awaken in bodies too large and too old for them, surrounded by monsters, expected to fight to survive and stop only with death. Suddenly, it made the puffball frown and it made him think of his own life. It suddenly seemed so... pointless, so cruel. The Star Warriors were meant to be the guardians of the universe's dreams and light yet they, themselves, were denied the right to dream. They fought and died without ever experiencing or even understanding the feelings they were meant to protect.

A child should not be as world weary and scarred as he is, thought Mety to himself. With time and distance as well as the acceptance of his true nature, the Star Warrior faced his own memories and upbringing. Nightmare had been an insane, evil monster and his NME forces were just as pointlessly cruel as he was. Yet, somehow, Mety did not hate them. He hated their acts and would never hesitate to fight them ever again but strangely enough, he didn't harbour actual hatred toward them. His heart stirred differently for the Galactic Star Soldier force ironically. A mix of confusion and deep sadness filled him. Why had the Galactic Star Soldier force been like this? Things had been bad, true... but it just seemed somehow... insane to him. What had Arthur been thinking? Why had he done such things?

The young child jumped off the chair and marched out of the restaurant, having finished his visit of the town. He had said good-bye to all those he knew, discussed with them, played a little while with a few, got various gifts from others. He had set out to simply say good-bye and it had turned into a journey through his memories, meeting and discussing with everyone he knew one last time before departing. He had promised them he'd return and as he found himself outside, staring at the blue skies of Pop Star, he found himself really wanting to honor that promise. He had a reason to fight for now, a reason to live and to return. It was... a pleasant feeling, one that made his duties feel suddenly much more important.

As he found himself walking toward the edge of town, his steps swift, a warm feeling making his entire frame feel so light, he couldn't help but be surprised by the number of people who had gathered to wave him good bye. He recognized so many of them...

His knaves were also waiting. They had waited patiently for him and for a moment, a hint of doubt entered the child's mind. For he was indeed a child. One who had beaten off an invasion and defeated the dreaded Marx, avenging his fallen counterpart but nonetheless, a kid. He stopped, watching the two, wondering what they were thinking of him. They had been loyal for so long... had the events that had happened change this?

The two nodded silently to show him their respect and the blue puffball understood. He had been their lord for so long, had protected their lives just as they had protected him. From the times back in the Galactic Star Soldier forces, to their adventures on Pop Star, Mety had been their lord and this, no matter his nature. The bond between them was true, always was.

The blue puffball spun and raising himself to the tip of his feet, waved energetically with one paw, smiling at all of his friends. They all responded as one, their messages blending from so many voices. All wished for his return. He would indeed return.

With this gesture done, he turned back to his knaves and begun the trek to his allies' starship. More adventures awaited him in space.

* * *

><p>How long has it been since he last soared the depths of space? Actually not that long ago due to the whole deal with that battle at the NME base during which he launched the Halberd to attack Nightmare's base alongside with the ragtag bunch of Demon Hunters that now formed the revived Galactic Star Soldier force.<p>

Still, it brought him back to those dark days, back when he was under the orders of Arthur, those darker days when he was hiding under his mask. To say the truth, he had pondered about maybe putting back his uniform. The armor and the mask were symbols of the Star Warriors and he did not doubt that none would recognize the strange blue child that would show up. But Mety was determined. He would never put that stupid thing on his face ever again. He would never hide under it again. When he will show himself to the defenders of the galaxy, it will be as himself, not as some faceless survivor of a defeated has-been force that was made of interchangeable faceless knights.

There was little to be said during the trip and as such, everyone was silent as the blue puffball's eyes begun to wander. Sure, he remained determined and serious-looking for the first few hours... but as the ship continued its repetitive journey through the sea of stars, Mety's attention drifted to the endless void just beyond the ship's shell. Space was vast, vast beyond the wildest imagination. A single planet can take a lifetime to explore and yet, is little more than a tiny fragment of a solar system, itself nothing but a tiny fragment of a cluster, which is itself a tiny drop within a sector, which is nothing but one of millions within the galaxy. The concept of infinity was almost frightening. And it reminded him of just how large the NME had once been to be able to threaten such vastness.

Of course, this also made him think about how large the Dark Matter Collective must also be to cause even half the havoc it is apparently wreaking across the universe. But then, the NME had been gigantic beyond imagination and had collapsed within the space of but a few mere years, a single tiny pink puffball bringing down a monstrous war machine that had consumed billions of civilizations all by itself. It was almost unreal now that he thought about it... yet it had happened. But then, hadn't he just booted the Dark Matters off of Pop Star?

The first sign that things were serious was when the ship begun to approach the area within which the local Galactic Star Soldier base was located. The base close to Pop Star was the oldest one yet ironically, it was one of the smallest. Just a small ferry station, forgotten by most. For all of the fact that it was the first, Mety could understand that it had been forgotten, in a way. Pop Star was a distant star, far from the center of the galaxy where most of the main civilizations lived. No one needed to go around here.

But things had changed radically recently. The Dark Matters had struck hard and fast and with so many planets burning and so many bases destroyed, the Demon Hunters and fleets of the various allied species floundered in confusion. The local star base, once ignored, was becoming a great rallying point from which millions of warships would gather, get information on what was going on, and then be sent deeper into the galaxy to fight. The starship's radar was blanked out with signatures, the transmission system flooded with conversations from the myriad of ships of so many designs and technologies interacting. Mety could only imagine how busy and tired the poor people on that base must be, trying to keep head and tails of that situation...

The fact that this was not their final stop was even more telling of the situation. The confusion had to end, a proper defense had to be organized. To be fair, Mety didn't really expect to take part in that... but he'd need to show up, to help undo the damage the Dark Matters had come. They were passing by the area merely because that it was the first step in their journey toward the main base where the generals of the allied forces resided. This was their intended destination.

It would still take a long time before they reached it...

"Sir?"

It was a simple word but it was enough to bring the puffball's attention out of the screens that shown the exterior of the ship. In a way, the two brothers did not know what to think of their lord or of this whole venture to begin with. Space held so many bad memories, so many memories that both of the brothers wished to forget.

While Blade had been mentally preparing himself the younger brother had observed the child. He was a paradox and in a way, it caused a great gaping emptiness to engulf the knave's heart. He was so much like the young Kirby in so many ways and yet, all of that endless fighting had scarred him in ways that couldn't be masked. It was as if bringing him back to space had changed him back to the masked figure they had known only, without the armor to make him look bigger, Mety had nothing magnificent about him now.

The war with the NME had been a meat grinder, one that had taken loved ones from everyone. Both knaves were adults and had been affected by this. To lose a loved one is a difficult reality, one that left scars that, on many people, never healed. Mety had been exposed to such horrors while he was a mere child and for a moment, the two knaves found themselves doubting once more the sanity of Arthur. Chosen by destiny, no one could have denied it but had the original leader of the Galactic Star Soldier force truly been so wise? Sealing Kirby in that starship, constantly training Mety while shunning his nature and forcing him behind that infernal mask... had it truly been for the best?

But then, this was the past. They no longer lived in the shadow of the Star Warriors, standing as the blue Star Warrior's true friends and allies rather than cannon fodder. Sword wanted his lord to know that his own past is, just as theirs, just what it is, merely the past.

It had been a single word, just to get his attention but the child had seen his two friends and knew at that moment that he wasn't alone. Regardless of what happened out there, whenever it turns out badly or not, he will never live in shame again. The puffball's smile was everything Sword had wished to see once more and with this done, went back to waiting for the long journey to end.

* * *

><p>How long had it been since he had walked into the great council room? Not that long actually, all things considering. Still, the last time he had entered inside, it had been inside of the station near Pop Star and it had housed representatives from only a few solar systems and back then, those representatives had mostly been the more diplomatic members of the Demon Hunter clans that had taken part in the final assault on Nightmare's base. Now, the room was so much larger, with more seats than he could count and most of the representatives were actual politicians now too. This was both good and bad, if his memory served him well.<p>

Of course, back then, he had stepped inside with his mask and armor on, hiding his true nature. Now, he would walk in as himself. In a way, he realized that it would not change that much but he could not help but smile at the fact that probably, no one would care.

He was still a bit difficult as he found himself shaking from time to time. But the deeper he made his way into the base, the more confident he found himself. The reassurances from his trusted allies were ringing truer by the minute as he found that no one seemed horrified by his appearance. In fact, many of the civilians had even called him cute! It made him smile and feel so... strange. And everyone was still recognizing him as a Star Warrior and calling him 'sir' too! No need for a mask or anything...

Still, it didn't change the fact that he would soon speak with an awful lot of people and that the situation was really bad. Marx is gone but he was only but one of many. He had not heard that much but apparently, the Dark Matters were something bad. There was a little point he was still wondering about... but then maybe speaking with everyone and learning of what's happening everywhere in the universe will help him understand.

His friends wished him good luck and there he was, walking through the sliding double doors leading to the great chamber. There had been no waiting, no having to spend time in the various waiting rooms and cafeterias of the great station. The council had been expecting him, wishing for him to come. As he was the last of the Star Warriors and the one who had brought them to victory against Nightmare, they probably expected great things from him...

With some luck, he'll be able to repeat the miracle.

As he stepped in the middle of the great amphitheater-like room, every gaze from every seat from every direction locked upon him. Their gazes were hard but serious. They were worried, expectant...

"Meta Knight, Star Warrior, one of the founders of the new galactic alliance. We have been expecting you." said a tall, strange figure, the chairman of the assembly. "Before we begin any debates, I and all of us are curious. What exactly happened on Pop Star?"

He knew it was coming. So he spoke. "The Dark Matters had infiltrated the planet and launched a direct assault. They attempted to use the old NME teleportation network to access the heart of Dreamland and attack where it hurt most. Thankfully, I and my knaves repelled the assault and destroyed the transporter. I also faced and defeated Marx in direct combat."

"Well, it's nice to see at least some worlds have managed to drive the things back." spoke one of the representatives, an insectoid-like creature colored purple. "The Dark Matters sent a fleet of what seemed to be giant ships of black liquid. They've been tearing through our colonies and our fleets have been barely able to slow them down. And the ground engagements... they're more like living tidal waves than proper armies. Even in the worst days of Nightmare's reign, the Demon Beasts did not attack in such great numbers."

Mety could understand this. He remembered the massive living walls of blackness and eyes that had risen up in the castle. So many of the things, attacking him from so many sides... and then the fact that it probably meant that the Demon Beasts he had fought earlier and that had almost killed him had also been Dark Matter creations. And all of this from a single transporter. He found himself shuddering, picturing how bad it would have been if the Dark Matters had arrived in a proper invasion ship.

"You found them difficult to defeat? The Ghanthynad Republic repelled the Dark Matter Collective's ships at relatively little cost. Our weapon technology proves superior."

As the argument begun, he knew it was time for him to do his thing. Just as he had done when the time had come to face the NME, he raised one of his limbs high and spoke up. His throat squeezed and his tongue paralyzed as nervousness gripped him for a second. The first time, it had felt like the worst thing ever, like plunging straight into the coldest waters while simultaneously being shocked. Back then, he had been afraid of being noticed. Now, he was afraid once more. But it was more that without the mask, without the change to his voice it brought, they would not stop.

"Everybody!"

And the eyes all shifted, the voices stilled. Relief washed over him as they all watched him. He was the last Star Warrior. He did not know if he would be able to repeat the feat he accomplished on Pop Star anywhere else but he knew he could unite them again.

"The enemy is obviously seeking to divide us. The propaganda, the sudden attacks, it is all to keep us separated." his voice gained in confidence and volume with each word. He had been afraid that his true, child-like voice would fail to catch their attention, fail to make them pay attention to him. But everywhere, he saw reverence or if he saw doubt, it was at the impact of the Star Warrior, not at him being a child.

Before long, he felt like on the Halberd. In command, in control, finally ruling his own destiny rather than ruled by it. "We must rally our forces and strike the Dark Matters, fight back, boot them out of all of our worlds. No matter how strong they may be, they can only destroy us if we allow them. We must counter-attack."

"I do not think so."

His entire body turned to stone, the blood draining from his face instantly. He felt as if a long, icy dagger had pierced his back, preventing him from moving. His eyes were widened, his heart pounded, his throat was dry. He couldn't even turn around to face the source of the voice.

"We should not act this rashly."

This noble voice, deep and oozing confidence and bravery... he knew it, he could never forget it. Never. Ever.

"Nightmare is a clever opponent. That he would build a decoy to fool people into thinking he can be destroyed permanently is perfectly in his style, as is the rapid evolution of his demons. The Dark Matter Collective are most definitely a cover for a new operation of the NME. As such, we must act cautiously. All of the Galactic Star Soldier Force's members should retreat to their worlds and wait. The prophecy shall come to pass and Nightmare defeated once more. Attacking recklessly will achieve nothing but pointless death."

The golden armor couldn't be mistaken. Neither were the dark blue eyes that glared at him like daggers, narrowing at the sight of him. Mety felt as if he was suddenly the size of a mouse before the legend himself.

"You are out of uniform." Anger and disgust dripped from every word, striking into the puffball's heart and washing him all over with the bitter feeling of shame. He couldn't even look down to his feet, hypnotized by Arthur's glare. "Leave. And put back your uniform."

Feelings tore at him. He felt like crying, he felt like hiding, he felt like screaming and kicking at the armored being. Couldn't he see what he had done? Couldn't he see this was not a scheme of Nightmare? Why? How could he be here, alive? He had never heard of him escaping from the final battle's scene! He...

"Now."

The blue puffball took off running as fast as he could. So fast that he turned back to the exit simultaneously with his running, causing him to trip over his own foot and all straight on his face. It didn't matter as he instantly brought himself back on his face going on a mad dash away from the golden Star Warrior.

His mind was blank, his heart pounded. He barely saw the exit, did not care about where he was going. He... just ran. And ran. And ran. And ran. And-

WHAM!

He missed a corner and slammed straight into a wall. He was not in the room anymore. He did not know where he was and he did not care. How was this possible? How did Arthur get here, let alone survive for all of those years? Thoughts, questions, feelings, so many things swirled and raged inside him and in his confusion, he felt exhaustion grip him and wash it all away. It was just too much of a shock to him. So he allowed the darkness to grasp his mind as he just laid there, his mind vacant...

* * *

><p>When Mety recovered his wits, he finally became aware that he had run all the way to the central station of the complex. A simple hub, shaped like a park, which connected the various sections of the gigantic space station together. The blue puffball berated himself for what had happened back at the meeting. He couldn't believe he had let the shock of seeing Arthur grip him like this and make him run like an infant!<p>

...well, he is an infant technically but that was not the point. He had united them once, he was doing that again. Sure, he had never expected to see the one who had raised him returned but he shouldn't have reacted like this. The emotion had just... torn through him, not allowing him to act rationally.

Still... how had his mentor survived and why was he here? He had interrupted him and... wait, did he really believe that Nightmare was behind this again?

It was then that he noticed the gold armor. Again, his stomach knotted and his throat dried as he saw him approach. His entire frame tensed but this time, he took control of his breathing as much as he could. To be fair, he was not sure what to think. He was the one who had raised him and yet, that glare... sure, he remembered it but had Arthur's glare always felt like this? He was... not sure.

The older Star Warrior stopped in front of him, staring at him. For a long time, he seemed to survey him. It occurred to Mety that he was leaned forward in a rather odd stance and that it wasn't proper of a Star Warrior so he straightened himself, trying to stand tall before his old mentor and father figure.

"Meta Knight. Where is your mask?"

There were many ways he could have answered. He found himself hesitating between so many possibilities. But he had to answer fast or Arthur would be angry. It had to be near instantaneous in fact! What is he doing not speaking?

"I did not bring it with me, sir."

"You did not?" the Star Warrior was obviously displeased. "Meta Knight, the mask is a Star Warrior's symbol. One must never be without it."

"I..." The truth was... he hadn't thought of it that way. All that he had thought was that he hated that mask, hated everything it represented and wanted to throw it away, never to wear it again, never to even look at it. But how could he tell his mentor that he saw what was a sacred symbol of the Star Warrior in such a way?

He... oh! There is an idea! "Sir, the mask has become unreliable in light of the improvement of my skills. I have found that fighting without armor is more effective nowadays."

It instantly felt like a cheap excuse, which it was. This was a diplomatic meeting, why would the mask be a liability in it? He regretted using the excuse as soon as he brought it up.

"And how would it be a liability in a diplomatic meeting?" he had called it, indeed. Now he was in for a scolding. "The mask is the sacred symbol of our order! It is unacceptable that any Star Warrior would be without it and this, both when meeting allies and on the battlefield."

Arthur stared at his pupil further, as if confused for a moment. The blue puffball blinked, not remembering that his mentor would show such signs of surprise. But the second he truly looked at his father figure, the hard look was on his face. Maybe he had imagined it? He probably did. And it was for the best too.

"Meta Knight, you must fetch your mask and put it on as soon as possible. You already shamed your title and insulted all of your fallen allies by throwing it away. But even more importantly, you must not be seen without it."

His gaze became hard, piercing. The golden Star Warrior approached him, making the blue puffball step back, shrinking before the towering figure of the Star Warrior of legend.

"It is the symbol of what you should be. When you wear it, you are one of us. Do you understand?"

Of course he did. He always did. By wearing the mask, he hid that he was a monster, that he did not deserve to be here, or even to exist. It was also something that everyone had told him was not needed. That he had the blood of a Demon Beast did not matter. In fact, if it mattered at all, Galaxia would have rejected him long ago. Yet the sacred blade was still in his possession. He did not need the mask anymore.

"Yes I do. But I do not need the mask anymore."

The golden Star Warrior stepped back as his former pupil stepped forward, confidence returning and washing away the childish confusion that had filled his white eyes. His stance was determined, his gaze fearless.

"I know it may sound strange but I was a coward before, I ran away. As Meta Knight, I failed. But now I'm different. I've destroyed Nightmare and saved Pop Star. I will honor the names of my friends. I'm Mety, the wielder of Galaxia, and-"

"You are being arrogant!"

Mety stopped mid-tirade to stare at his mentor, unsure what to say, suddenly very confused as to the situation. Arrogant? What did he mean?

"Yes, you are a coward. You ran away when your fate was to fight, as per the prophecy. You deserted and ran away. Now, because of some minor victories, you believe yourself to be different? You are letting your twisted nature infuse you with undeserved pride!"

Arthur clenched his fists. "You even brag about wielding Galaxia as if it belonged to you! Who are you to believe yourself unique? Do you believe to be some kind of hero? The duty of a Star Warrior is to fight and follow the prophecy, protecting the universe from Nightmare and the eternal darkness. Through the mask, you surrender your identity and accept the honor of a Star Warrior, the instrument of destiny against Nightmare. Who are you to believe yourself some hero!"

Mety winced as the golden Star Warrior backhanded him, sending him reeling.

"Who are you to imply that a mere mortal, and a Demon Beast at that, could possibly destroy the eternal darkness, Nightmare! It is not your place! You are completely out of your mind, Meta Knight!"

Mety trembled as he massaged the cheek that his mentor had struck. It was a simple slap, nothing comparable to the type of injury he was used to receive from the various Demon Beasts and yet, somehow, it stung enough that he felt almost like crying. He managed to keep the tears from flowing but the words stung him.

"I asked around when I got on this station. A Fountain of Dreams... and then destroying it killing Nightmare once and for all? Let me laugh! The very fact that the worlds are under attack are the proof that it was a trick from the ancient enemy. It is likewise the proof that you were a fool and brought Kirby with you in your folly! Fighting Nightmare? It was not his destiny! All you did was make things worse!"

That did it. The blame of Kirby's death upon him by his father figure, the insults, and the doubts... had this been a trick by Nightmare? The Dark Matter Collective was a new enemy, right? It... couldn't be a new breed of Demon Beast brought by Nightmare's body being destroyed ahead of the prophesized time? Kabu had said they were not related to the Demon Beasts! And now... now...

"The final battle... no one survived..." he held on to that question with all of his strength. He did all he could to keep his composure.

"Destiny is the sharpest sword of all. It was not my fate to die on this planet and thus, I didn't. You deserted. You ran away. You ran when you were meant to fight. You have failed as a Star Warrior."

It was enough of an answer to him and with it and the statement of the truth, the truth which he knew more than anything else, he broke into tears. He did not care that he was a Star Warrior. He was just so ashamed, so sad. He had failed to save his friends, all he had been able to do was run. All...

"There were... we... were too many of them! I couldn't... I couldn't stay! I had to run! I had to!"

"You abandoned your duties. I should have you executed for treason. But you're not worth my time. Next time I see you, I want you with your uniform on. Understood?"

It was not a question. He turned away and walked away, not caring about an answer not that the worthless child who thought himself a Star Warrior would give him one. To think that this pathetic, cowardly blue puffball thinks itself a Star Warrior! To abandon his comrades when the time of destiny come, to fall so easily for one of Nightmare's tricks, and now to try and get everyone pumped up for a pointless counter-attack? To think he wasted centuries raising and training that sorry excuse of a Star Warrior! He should have known that a Demon Beast, even one created from a top-secret NME project, would make a poor, incompetent Star Warriors. After all, like all Demon Beasts, he is a coward.

Still, it did not matter. If the inhabitants of this space station care so much about that cry baby sobbing like a baby, then it's their loss. He wasted enough of his time on someone who proved he isn't deserving of attention or respect. For now, he got a galaxy to prepare against the onslaught of the NME.

* * *

><p><strong>TO BE CONTINUED...<strong>


	10. The Seeker

**OFF:** Here is the next chapter! This chapter is a bit short but rather important. I hope it will prove to be worth the wait.

* * *

><p><strong>HONOR THE PAST<strong>

CHAPTER 8:  
>The Seeker<p>

* * *

><p>Arthur.<p>

He lived. He had survived. The shock had been terrible, the conversation painful. As he stared at his own image in the mirror, Mety could not help but wonder what could have possibly possessed him back there. His father figure, the one that had raised him, taught him everything... why had he become so sad, so ashamed over it? Why had Arthur spoken so harshly? Shouldn't he have been surprised, pleasantly so, to meet another Star Warrior? How did he know of what had happened? He had to talk to him. He had to apologize, he had to take a grip.

He stared at the broken piece of his mask in his hand. He had destroyed it back home when he had sworn to overcome his past, to finally become the Star Warrior he was meant to be. He had thought that his former mentor would have been overjoyed that he'd finally take his destiny seriously and yet, this had happened. All of this over a mask. It seemed so absurd.

"Sir."

The voice of his knaves, Blade's voice more exactly. He turned to look to the older of the two brothers...

"Before you ask, I was under shock. I did not mean to make a scene." he sighed, looking down for a moment. "I did not think. I thought he had died back there. I thought..."

He did not finish his sentence, he did not need to. The two knaves approached their lord, the younger one putting a hand on the shoulder of the puffball.

"We understand. No one expected him to show up."

Feeling a smile creep up on his face as he was reminded of his friends and allies, the young Star Warrior nodded to himself, his gaze steeling itself. He walked away from the mirror and stared at the exit of the room, discarding the piece of his mask.

"What happened while I was... inconvenienced?"

"Sir." the two knaves straightened themselves. "Arthur has taken command of the galactic alliance. As the senior surviving Star Warrior, he has dictated that all remaining forces should retreat to their homeworlds. All plans for a counter-offensive have been cancelled. We're sorry."

This was a foolish course of action. This was a new enemy, he was convinced of it! Marx... he had never spoken of Nightmare, never shown even a sign of having being tainted by his power. None of the monsters he had faced had shown any signs of being Demon Beasts and Kabu had confirmed that this was a new threat. How it rose and why, he has no idea. But he greatly doubted that this was Nightmare's power. If it was him, then where was Yamikage, his puppet?

Demon Beasts, those loyal to Nightmare, have no hearts. They think only of pleasing their master, of serving his purposes. Those that did not were most of the time completely mindless or insane. All of this? This was not the style of the NME at all.

He had his doubts, of course. Arthur had struck him emotionally, shaking his conviction. His argument about fate... could it be truly how he survived?

No. This is foolish and childish. Arthur is a mighty warrior be even he couldn't have survived on his strength alone. The onslaught was way too bad on that dark day. Something was not right here.

"I must speak with my former mentor. There is no other way."

"My lord, are you sure? In your current state-!"

He interrupted his knave by raising a hand, indicated that he wished to be heard. Then, he spoke once more. "I must do this myself. I had thought I had finally come to terms with who I am, with my past. I did not expect to be shaken like this. I must do this, I must speak with him. There is something wrong. Now, I have a task for you."

The two brothers waited patiently for the blue puffball to speak up.

"I want you to see Silica and Knuckle Joe. I want the ship ready. I do not know if I can convince Arthur to change his mind but even if I cannot, we must act. The Dark Matter Collective will not sit still and wait for the prophecy to come true, if it apply to them at all. I want everyone to be ready to leave as soon as possible."

The two knaves saluted and then ran out of the room. Mety felt pride swell inside him as he looked at his friends as well as a feeling of calm happiness, knowing he had people on whom he could depend. Nodding to himself and gathering his courage, he decided to head toward the halls of the station. It was time to find his mentor.

* * *

><p>It was funny how quickly his attention span could wane at times. At first, he had headed to search for his mentor and although he had not forgotten his goal, his eyes had quickly lost their serious look as childish glee filled his heart. It was crazy now that he thought about it. This station was so amazing, so massive, so awe-inspiring and he had never noticed it before.<p>

His white eyes darted from hall to hall, noticing the various people go around doing their things. There were so many species! He had supposedly met most if not all of those species before but they had been covered in masks, in armor. They had all looked alike except for general size and frame. But now, they all looked so strange, so unique! He had never known that some of them had fur, or that others had scales. And each individual was different too!

He had never imagined that the universe could be inhabited by so many species. It was so crazy. But of course, it also reminded him of why he had chosen to fight.

To say the truth, it was a good thing his attention was so easily diverted because he was absolutely terrified, deep down. He had destroyed his mask, torn his cape in two, trashed his armor. His mentor will surely be furious again. The part of him that wished to be mature was telling him that the Star Warrior would have to act reasonably... but Arthur was the closest thing to a father and he really, really didn't feel like being yelled at. The sheer idea of having to stand straight, to repress tears as he'd be screamed at...

... no, he probably wouldn't discipline him. Besides, he is a Star Warrior, a real one. He had saved Pop Star from Marx, he is here to perform his duty. And well, he did get a new alliance on its feet...

Things will go alright, they must.

It was a good thing that the return of Arthur had caused such a buzz among the various members of the alliance. Finding out in which room Arthur remained was easy. Now, all he had to do was... well... gather all of his courage and walk through the door.

His feet felt like lead as he stepped before the door and he felt a rather nicely sized knot in his throat. Swallowing it, he then forced his trembling feet forward.

It was the end of his short trip. The blue Star Warrior was not surprised to see his mentor's room so spartan. He had most probably insisted for a quiet room, away from where he may be bothered. He had always been so focused, so wise... well, that's what he remember.

The golden warrior was hunched over a table, staring down at screens displaying what was probably tactical data. He heard the double door slide open and glanced briefly. He took note of the young puffball that had stepped in and then turned back to look at his map.

He couldn't help but sigh. Out of uniform, goofy smile, a stance that was nowhere near straight... that was an annoyance alright.

"I told you about your uniform, Meta Knight."

This time, he did not bolt, he did not grovel, he did not cry. He just stared at the one who made so many feelings surface and blend together in his young mind. Now that he thought about it, he almost wondered if this could possibly be a copy of the Arthur he had known. Had he always been as harsh as in that conversation?

No, he should stand straight. He should not beg or cry, no matter how young he may be in truth. He should stand strong for his friends, both those who are there and those who aren't. So he steeled his nerves and suppressed the nervosity and fear that made him tremble.

"Sir Arthur." he said, as seriously as he could. It felt ridiculous, hearing such a young voice try to be so serious... he hoped it wouldn't come off the wrong way.

This time, he turned around. He stared at him for a long time, his eyes narrowing at the sight of the blue puffball. But instead of snarling, he let out a sigh.

"You stand before me, trying to convince me of your dicipline and yet you would not even wear your armor, the symbol of the guardians and protectors of the universe."

Uneasy silence. Despite his nerves, Mety remained straight and silent. He would not lose his cool again before his mentor. The golden Star Warrior noticed this as the seconds passed and became minutes. The blue puffball did not collapse into apologies or into groveling, he did not look away or walk away. Despite the anger that he felt at the blue Star Warrior daring to expose his foul nature for all to see, he could not help but notice that the reactions he had expected had not come to pass. It was... strange to say the least.

"You obviously stand before me, aknowledging my authority. I can tell from your pose that you await for me to give you permission to speak. Speak, Meta Knight."

"I request to speak with you, sir. There are many things to discuss."

It was crazy how funny this sounded with the voice of a child. Still, it was worded correctly and Arthur nodded. "Close the doors. We have much to speak of, indeed."

Mety stepped deeper inside the room, the doors closing behind him. With the two of them alone, the golden warrior nodded to himself and then carried on. "At ease."

Tension vanished all over his frame, the blue infant having not realized until now how utterly stressed he had been. Still, he was glad he had not been yelled at again...

"First, let us dispense with the details. Why did you not listen to my order? It is basic discipline, Meta Knight. You must wear your armor at all time. It is especially important in your case given your... nature."

Well, that was going to be awkward. Alright... Mety told himself to just repeat the speech as he had praticed in front of the mirror before coming here... "The mask and armor became the symbol of my act of cowardice back at the battle which caused us to be separated. When I chose to honor my destiny as a Star Warrior, I felt that I had to destroy the mask which acted as a mark of shame to me."

"What of the symbol of the mask and of your nature? There are practical reasons why I gave you this mask." said Arthur without missing a beat.

Thankfully, this was still what Mety had expected and as such, he went on with his planned explanation. "It did not make a difference. To everyone, I was the Star Warrior regardless of if I had armor or not. Furthermore, due to my involvements in Nightmare's defeat, the news of my nature troubled no one. It was little more than a detail to them."

"Meta Knight..." the golden Star Warrior sighed in exhasperation. "Of course they would not notice or care right away. But you cannot deny your destiny. It is only through your destiny as a Star Warrior that you can overcome your evil nature. Destroying the mask weakens your resolve. It is why I instructed you personally in the way of the sword and forbid you from ever using the Copy Ability. You must suppress your demonic nature at all times or else, Nightmre may possess you."

"I am aware of the risks..." and before he could go on, the older Star Warrior carried on.

"No, you still don't. If you did, you would have not removed your mask, even less destroyed it because of a past failure. You have put your charges under risk uselessly. You have failed in your duty and acted recklessly and irresponsably."

Mety suddenly found his feet to be especially fascinating now. But most importantly, he found his heart screaming that this was not right. It was more than just that. And if Arthur could not listen...

"I did not have a choice!"

That... came louder and far less neutral than intended. This caught the Star Warrior's attention and Mety saw his gaze behind the visor of his armor focusing upon him. His explanation had better be good...

"New foes came, foes that my sword could not defeat. I had to use the Copy Ability to destroy them, to protect my home."

"You used your Copy Ability?!" shock, fear, anger in equal amounts echoed in the elder's voice. He stepped forward, the puffball stepping back, intimidated for a moment. But before he found himself losing his nerve, he tried to explain himself.

"I-I had no choice. If I had not, it would have killed everyone, it would have killed me! I know about the risks! But Nightmare is dead and besides, Kirby used the Copy Ability all the time and it never was any cause for concern..."

The gold armored Star Warrior stepped back, as if dazed. His eyes looked all over the room and then settled upon his table. He put his hands on it, supporting himself as he sunk his gaze into the files he had been reading...

"I reckon... that we need to start from the beginning. I got ahead of myself. I need to know what has happened..."

A moment of respite and at that moment, for a moment, the puffball looked at his mentor carefully. Slumped over, looking as if he had all of the weight over the world on his shoulders, he looked as if his heart had been pierced. The infant's entire frame cringed and tensed as he knew he was the source of this. He had always disappointed his mentor, always. A dirty monster, incapable of doing much, undeserving of the sacred blade and yet chosen by it. A beast who had been incapable of following simple orders...

"Many perished in that dreadful battle, most of us. For days, we fought as we lost ground until we were forced to retreat underground. But we had faith. We knew most of us were destined to die but I knew I was destined to live. Eventually, the NME became satisfied with the destruction it had caused, with the devastation of the once proud Galactic Star Soldier alliance. And so I waited until the day of destiny came. I waited until only a few of us remained of the small quantity that had survived to that point. But I had faith. Then, someday, a great vessel crashed on the surface of the planet and we knew the time had come. Of course, we had little way of knowing that much had changed since we last fought the war."

Mety found his feet calling to him as Arthur stared at him but managed to keep his gaze focused straight forward.

"We salvaged the crashed ship and headed into space to find Galactic Star Soldier stations... only, they were not as they should be. They were filled with Demon Hunters, mere thugs who lack the blessings of destiny, and various militaries from worlds who should have remained at home. They spoke of the last Star Warriors, who united them and who led the assault that ended the war and destroyed the NME headquarters, killing Nightmare. And this brings us to us, here. Tell me, Meta Knight, what you have done after abandonning your duties."

The wording of the question pierced his heart but Mety steeled his resolve and spoke as clearly and calmly as he could...

He spoke of his arrival on Pop Star, of his time spent serving King Dedede, of the Halberd project... and of course, of his friends, of Kirby, of Fumu, Bun, and the various characters they met through many adventures. Ultimately, he spoke of the meeting with those who came from other worlds, of the Demon Hunters, of the formation of the new galactic alliance. Then came the tale of the assault on the NME base and of Kirby's victory against the NME.

Then came peace, quiet, hope, contentment... and tragedy. Marx's attack, his hesitation, his resolve, the destruction of the mask, harnessing the Copy Ability, destroying Nightmare's source at the strange fountain, and finally his battle with Marx.

He became so absorbed, so engrossed in his tale that he never noticed that his tone had long ceased to be formal. He spoke of those he met as friends, laughed and smiled as he spoke of the games Fumu and Bun came up with, tears flowed when he spoke of Kirby's death, and resolve burned in his eyes as he spoke of Marx and his battles with him.

Arthur was silent the entire time, simply listening. It is only when Mety finished his tale, suddenly feeling kind of tired, that he reacted. The blue puffball found himself just wanting to sit down and to doze off but the sight of his mentor sent a jolt through his frame and made him suppress his desires. He also tried to suppress the nervosity, not knowing how his father figure would react. He didn't seem angry at least...

"Meta Knight... that... was incredibly reckless, utterly irresponsible of you. You should have not done any of this."

And instantly, his heart sunk anew. He found himself stuttering, trying to come up with something to say but what was there to say?

"You do realize that all of this is your fault, right? You caused this disaster to befall the galaxy."

What? Mety had expected to be blamed but this was a bit ridiculous. He found himself blinking as he stopped sulking and instead focused on the incomprehension that filled his mind.

"What? But how could it be my fault? All I did was try to protect Pop Star."

"Then what do you call this?" Arthur's tone raised in volume as he spreaded his arms, indicating the entire room... and by extension, the infant guessed, the entire station. "A bunch of mundane soldiers and a few thugs thinking they can hijack destiny! A disgrace!"

"What was I supposed to do?" he protested. "I and Kirby couldn't take on the entire NME army by ourselves! We needed allies! We needed to continue the war, to-"

"You were not meant to!" barked the golden Star Warrior, interrupting Mety. "You were not meant to fight Nightmare!"

"Well we did! And we beat him!" Mety felt really offended all of a sudden. The blame just felt so... ridiculous all of a sudden, so disproportionate. He had made mistakes but fighting Nightmare was one? What was the purpose of a Star Warrior if not fight Nightmare?

"Oh that sure worked out!" the volume rose further. "Kirby dead, the worlds under siege by a brand new Demon Beast army, your so-called alliance in jeopardy! Were you so arrogant, so foolish as to believe you could control fate? That you could accomplish what was not yours to do? If Nightmare is dead and the NME defeated, why is the galaxy overrun?"

"They're... they're not Demon Beasts..." he found himself feeling suddenly very, very tiny as Arthur was now yelling at him. His tiny protests failed to dent the tidal wave that was his mentor's rage.

"You have tapped into Nightmare's power so much that you cannot even recognize his influence anymore! You are a shame to all Star Warriors, bringing ruin to our galaxy with your arrogance!"

"I am NOT influenced! Nightmare is dead, he can't influence me! And even if he wasn't, Kirby used his Copy Ability much more than I did and he wasn't possessed either!"

"You were a fool!"

Mety became silent and made himself very, very small as his mentor roared at him. His nerves gave away and he simply trembled as his father figure gave him an evil glare.

"If you had been responsible, you would have instructed Kirby in the way of the sword, giving him the skills he needed to protect Pop Star."

"He... he was only a child..." the infant tried to say.

"He was a Star Warrior!"

"We had no choice... he could have been killed... enemies that cannot be defeated with a sword..."

"Then he should have died."

Silence.

Mety was not sure what to say. He just stared at his mentor, eyes widened, trying to process what he had said. Arthur didn't even let him speak up.

"His fate was to protect Pop Star. If he was to die in the execution of his functions, then it is just as destiny called. It was not your place to derail fate and to try and make him into something he wasn't. All you did was expose his heart to Nightmare's corruption because you were too selfish, too imbued with your feelings to let him perform his destined duty, cruel as it might have been. He was meant to protect Pop Star, not to try and assault Nightmare himself! Only the chosen one may defeat Nightmare, Meta Knight. All other attempts only cause him to return immediately, stronger than ever, as you saw."

And at that moment, the dam broke. He brought himself to his feet... "So... that's it? We just wait for that chosen one, whatever it may be, to rise? We never even try to win or actually protect anyone? We just die like that?"

"Your nature as a Demon Beast betray you, Meta Knight!" shot back Arthur. "Listen to yourself, speaking of controlling fate! You have went completely made from the pressure of your duties. Each Star Warrior is meant to fight and die protecting the universe, staving off Nightmare and his darkness one more day to buy time until the time comes for the Galactic Knight, Galacta, to awaken so that he may smite Nightmare and banish the darkness. You gave the universe false hope and in doing so, might have doomed us all."

No. No. No. No no no no no no. That couldn't be true. That just couldn't be true. Joe's father, all of his friends, and Kirby... they couldn't... it just...

"Are you saying... we're just there to buy time for that Galacta person to wake up? That all of us... everyone of us... the entire Galactic Star Soldier army... is just cannon fodder?"

"We must do what we must, Meta Knight. You once understood this. You once understood what it meant to protect."

"That... that isn't what it means to protect! Protecting means stopping bad guys from hurting your friends, it means fighting monsters so that Joe may still have a father, it means protecting the homes of people so children can have a place where they can be happy, it means... it means... it doesn't mean..."

"Yes but it is not this simple, Meta Knight. Nightmare is everywhere, he is a fundamental force of nature. By giving in to your base nature, you save your friends today but you doom an entire world, and your soul, to be consumed by Nightmare. Do you think people did not try to fight Nightmare without the power of the Galactic Knight? Mere mortals cannot defeat him." Arthur stared at his pupil. "... even mortals chosen by the sacred blade."

Mety did not feel afraid anymore. Angry, angry beyond words yes but not afraid. Suddenly, all of his worries about his mentor were gone. If this was truly what he thought, if this was truly why he had been told to die on that rock, why Knuckle Joe had to lose his father, why Kirby had to die... then there was nothing more he wanted with this golden armored jerk. This was not what a Star Warrior meant. He refused to believe it to be this way. It couldn't be and it wouldn't be. He was wrong. There was a meaning to the battle other than just buying time for that Galactic Knight jerk to wake up, whoever he may be.

"We must reinforce all of our positions and wait. Because of your foolish actions, things will be going much worse. We may not survive the years it will take before the destined time comes and he is released. But if we do things correctly, we may survive to see the dawn of a new cycle. Meta K-"

Arthur stopped mid-sentence as he heard the door slide open. Mety stood in the doorway, back to him, standing as tall as his tiny feet could allow. He had stopped shivering and yet, for some reason, the older Star Warrior felt as if something had gone seriously wrong with his pupil.

"Where is the Galactic Knight, Arthur?"

He had not even used the proper etiquette. This was worrying, very much so. "Look, Meta Knight. I know I have been harsh..."

"My name is Mety." he cut.

"... but you must understand that it's for your own good. It's a fool's errand. If you continue going against destiny, terrible things will happen, things you will regret dearly."

"If you are truly right, then I won't be able to wake him up and there will be no harm in me checking, right?" The puffball was not even listening... "I must see it for myself. I need to know."

Arthur sighed deeeply... "The Galactic Knight sleeps in-between the world of light and the eternal darkness. Even with the sacred blade, you may not be able to call upon him. And even if you do, he cannot be awakened until the time of destiny. It is pointless Meta Knight."

He did not listen. He ignored the golden armored Star Warrior and just walked away. He had to find the Galactic Knight, to find out for himself about that whole fate thing.

Nightmare is dead, he know for sure. Fumu has confirmed, through the counseling of Kabu, that this threat is a new enemy, the Dark Matters, not the NME. Even if the prophecy is true, even if it is as Arthur speaks, it cannot help anyone anymore. He will find the Galactic Knight, he will prove that the true purpose of a Star Warrior is to protect, not to be fodder. And maybe, if that Galactic Knight is truly some kind of chosen one, he will find the help he needs to drive back the Dark Matters before the galaxy is swallowed.

* * *

><p>King Dedede's eyes were fixated upon the screen, his focus intense. This was a mind ruled by emotion with little in the way of coherent, intelligent thought being spawned within. As such, the body proved to be laughably easy to subdue despite its hidden potential. It was truly an ironic thing. The so-called king had almost destroyed his potential through the sheer magnitude of his laziness and stupidity. Still, now that it was under better management, this body's potential had begun to be salvaged.<p>

Right now, coordination and reflexes had to be built up. The senses had to be sharp and as a body that had relied upon what everyone told it instead of making its own observations, there was much to do to improve the situation. Still, as the attention of the mind within was devoted to using the two eyes to survey fifty-seven displays on the same screen, all different, one such point was currently being corrected.

It was then that pleasant news came to the king in the form of a mental link. His eyes became glassy and unfocused as the gentle touch of the hive mind brushed against the intelligence within. Indeed, one of the Dark Limbas far away, hidden in the air ducts of one of the limited ones' stations, had confirmed that the fool had acted just as predicted and that the wild element was now on his way.

It is so lovely when plans come together so seemlessly.

In a way, it was a bit disappointing that this prove to be so easy. Even Marx's little scheme had done little if anything to hinder the master's plans. Of course, now that the foolish individual had been stripped of his free will, he is ready to perform the master's will once more.

The NME remnants are still reeling from the true, actual death of their laughable master. The shockwave was absolutely delicious, a void that swept through the minds of all Demon Beasts as the rug was pulled from underneath them. Many had tasted the sheer strength of their confusion and despair, some more directly than others as a few Hyper Zones had been dispatched in that sorry sector that fool Yamikage called his home.

To think that this universe fears those things...

The minds of the units on the station swarmed him for answers. Must the fool be stripped of his free will or terminated now that the wild element has been successfully directed? It would be so easy ; the limited ones still think of the liquid in the air ducts as nothing more but condensation. None knows that the station is compromised and that the moment it is no longer useful, its life support systems shall 'mysteriously' fail.

However, there is no need for either the fool's termination or the station's. The fool's stupidity will derail operations through the galaxy and may be used again to control the wild element. Likewise, as many of the limited species' control nodes should be gathered before the trap is sprung.

Besides, it may actually cause people to ask questions and so far, the limited people's ignorance has done more to help the master's plans that any units' actual actions. The masquerade can play for a bit longer...

King Dedede's eyes refocused anew and with a swift, precise movement of the hand, the screen changed in shape. Now, it is time to focus upon his own personal touch to the master's plan...

* * *

><p><strong>TO BE CONTINUED...<strong>


	11. On the Trail of the Ancients

**OFF:** This chapter... this dumb, stupid chapter. It has stumped me for the longest time. No matter how I worded it, it just didn't feel right. Ever. It stumped me for so long, it's crazy.

Well, no more. I've actually gone and finished the dumb thing. I'm still not sure if it's any good but at this point, I'm just happy I finally got it done.

With some luck, it will prove to be worth the wait and allow me to finally get this story going once again.

* * *

><p><strong>HONOR THE PAST<strong>

CHAPTER 9:  
>On the Trail of the Ancients<p>

* * *

><p>He stared at the great pile of candy in the bottle. His fingerless paw gripped it as hard as he could. Hunger, hunger akin to that of the one who had been, in a way, his brother. The one whose face the enemy now wore. Where does this evil come from? How come killing Nightmare had been so easy?<p>

Mety stopped mid-thought. If it was so simple why had no one ever done it? Why was the strange fountain never found before? And where do the Dark Matters come from?

Then it made him think...

Why was Galaxia so important, now that he thinks about it? It's a powerful weapon, greater than any blade, any bow, any gun. But compared to the great starships and the great missiles that many civilizations can unleash as well as Nightmare's old fleets of destroyers, even the weapon of legend was nothing. And although they said it could destroy evils that any other weapon cannot touch, why would it be needed if the Star Rod can defeat Nightmare? It was said that it could allow whoever had it to control the fate of the Universe and that Nightmare wanted it... then why didn't he take it? Why did he instead try to hide it, to seal it away?

Then there was the Galactic Knight...

This made no sense, it made his head hurt, and he was hungry. It was just so much simpler when he wore his mask, pretended to know everything, and tried to train Kirby while lazily lying around, occasionally spying on Dedede! He... oh dear does he miss him. Again, the ruined form of his former prot g haunted his mind and Arthur's rants echoed in his mind.

Worthless, no sense of duty, coward...

It's not true, it's not true, not true! He can protect Pop Star, he has defeated Marx! He has also protected Galaxia! He... he couldn't protect Kirby...

He opened the bottle and inhaled, inhaled with all of his frustration. Every time! It happens every time! He thinks he got his inner demons dealt with and somebody has to move in and get him to feel sad and alone again! Why does this keep happening? And now there is that Galactic Knight thing...

...oh dear, that tasted awful! He must have swallowed the bottle in its entirety!... no, wait, that doesn't make sense! He doesn't care about that! And...

...whatever.

For a moment, he wondered why he would bother finding the Galactic Knight. Arthur's instructions were mostly useless... yet, here he is, going back to that ruined world where the Ancients once lived to search for information. To his knaves and the others, he said that he needed to discredit his mentor, to prove that to defeat the Dark Matter collective the worlds had to stand together against a common threat.

The puffball in the mirror did not believe this for a second. An excuse, one out of so many.

Did he have any other choice? He kinda wished that the representatives of the worlds hadn't seen his tantrum back at the council chamber. How is he going to convince them to go against Arthur, the leader of the initial alliance himself?

So many headaches, so much trouble and so, so much hunger. He's still hungry! He wish he had brought more candy bottles with him... or maybe some meat? Well, still, he's hungry and his head hurts. And how much farther is the Photron world anyway?

...hmmm... did it have a name? Was it always a volcanic, ruined world?

* * *

><p>Silicia stared at her weapon, pushing a button on it. Then, to her satisfaction, it finally shifted to a new shape. She smiled, nodding to herself. Seems she finally got her weapon's transformation function active again. Not that she dislikes the blade; very visceral, very efficient for what it's meant for but after what happened on Pop Star, she definitely want the weapon's secondary functions active in case the Dark Matters get in her way.<p>

Frankly, she expected the worse. Her father headed to the Photron world to retrieve Galaxia from the NME's hands. His mission ended in failure. Although she witnessed the death of the sword's original guardian back on Pop Star, when the NME sent it for some weird reason she don't care about, she strongly doubt that Nightmare didn't leave at least a few traps among the ruins of the ancient civilization. She didn't intend to die on that forsaken rock, that was for sure.

She checked her surroundings to see Blade and Sword checking their weapons. Although the two tried to hide it, she knew they were worried about the blue puffball's recent behaviour. Although Mety had let loose significantly since he embraced his true age and nature, he still held a veneer of maturity, wisdom, and overall determination. He was, after all, the one who led the great attack on the NME headquarters and then booted the Dark Matters off Pop Star. That he would be so nervous and constantly ask her and Knuckle Joe if they are there yet? Not normal. And the two, despite trying to act cold, knew the Star Warrior was troubled.

She was no good with this. She definitely wasn't Fumu and wasn't interested in trying to be a substitute. So instead, she decided it was time to change the subject.

"So... that planet, what can we expect from it?"

The two knaves raised their heads, noticed the way the female demon hunter was staring, and then after more awkward silence, Blade spoke up. "From what we've heard of sir Mety, the world is volcanic, very unstable geologically. Few if any creatures can survive there. The NME used to leave only a few guards there but now..." He shrugged. "... who knows what we'll find."

And that was the worrying part. The Dark Matters moved fast, very fast. They were not like the NME, seeding worlds and corrupting them slowly. They had travelled for many light years now and they had seen nothing but bombed out worlds and debris of slaughtered fleets as far as the ship's sensors could see. From the damage marks on the ships and planets, the Dark Matters had never bothered even sending any troops and just sliced all of the worlds and ships to pieces using what were probably energy weapons. It was eerie and deeply distressing. Entire armadas of ships and entire worlds turned to blackened, scar-covered lifeless rocks. That many of those fleets had been military fleets that should have been able to fight back didn't seem to have any impact; they had found no traces of any destroyed Dark Matter ships. As far as what the sensors could tell, the Dark Matters had cut a wide swat through the galaxy toward the Photron world, effortlessly murdering everything in their path with total impunity from anyone and anything, just bombing worlds without bothering to invade.

On one hand, it made for an uneventful flight... but it was nerve-wracking, just flying through space graveyard after space graveyard. Where were the Dark Matters heading? Why had they killed all those worlds and how had they done it so effortlessly? After their victory over Marx and his goons back on Pop Star, those massacre scenes were both sobering and terrifying.

Still, she wasn't going to let that get in her way. They needed to strike back, to avenge all those the Dark Matters had killed, to cut off the snake's head before things got worse. A whole lot of good Arthur's strategy did back when the NME was at its peak! It was the demon hunters who defeated the NME and they did so by counter-attacking the NME headquarters and via Mety and Kirby taking the fight to Nightmare. Just defending and waiting for fate to bail everyone out resulted in Nightmare nearly razing Pop Star.

Returning her weapon's form to that of a blade, she stood up and turned her back to the two knaves. "I'll go check on Knuckle Joe, see if there's any change with the auto-pilot."

She didn't wait for an answer, knew one wouldn't come. The silence was making everyone antsy, after all.

* * *

><p>The first sign that something was awfully wrong with Photron was when he stepped out of the ship. The planet had looked normal enough from outer space, with a normal atmosphere and what not. But as he set foot upon the volcanic rock and looked up, his young eyes became incapable of comprehending what he was seeing. The closest description he could come with was that somehow the clouds, from this side, turned pure black and now swirled and rotated as if they were liquid stains upon a canvas but even this did not convey how the skies looked.<p>

More worryingly was how the very sun seemed to twist and pulsate, as if the very skies were distorted. Despite the darkness that should cover the entire planet, the entire world was still mostly visible. The rock was stained red however... which was not normal. The ground should be black, not red.

Apparently, the blue puffball had taken on the eyes widened and mouth agape that his pink counterpart had been fond of taking when in the face of something shocking because both his knaves and allies noticed it.

Whatever questions or comments they had about Mety's current expression were quickly answered as they looked to the skies above. Whatever the Dark Matters did to this world... it was obvious that they shouldn't hang around to find out what it was.

"Is this... the work of the Dark Matters?" asked Sword aloud.

"Whatever it is, even the NME didn't corrupt worlds like this..."

Blade's comment or the state of the world didn't do much to shake Silicia's determination. In fact, she stepped forward, glancing at the others. "Whatever happened, we need to get moving."

Mety had expected the roar of volcanoes, to be spooked by the threat of earthquakes. He had expected anything, anything but this silence. Not only that, everything was so... so wrong. In the distance, he could see mountains and even they looked wrong. The jagged edges made it as if the very land had grown mouths filled with sharp fangs. The sky looked as if it had grown eyes. Clouds swirled, malformed, looking like giant tentacles reaching for the earth at some spots, like the pooling blood of a dead person in others. The silence was overwhelming. The wind whistled at a deafening volume and yet, it registered, somehow, as silence. Despite a cover of clouds as thick as during a fierce storm, the local star was as visible as high noon. And what a star it was... a jagged, malformed orb, its matter torn apart into a vortex-like halo, as if it was being slowly split into pieces by invisible hooks.

Every instinct in his body told him to run away. It wasn't something like intuition, battle instinct, or anything like that. It was a primal fear, one he did not understand and knew he didn't want to understand. There was something fundamentally wrong, conceptually obscene with what he was seeing, something that his eyes could not hope to comprehend and that he just wanted to stop looking at. He felt as though he was having some kind of nightmare except while being wide awake.

**_Go away_**

Mety froze. In fact, everyone froze. "Hmmm... did someone say something?" Blade broke the silence, looking around and seeing no one.

**_NOW_**

"We should not be here..." whispered Silicia to herself.

"I don't know how come this place got so creepy but I sure don't want to stay here!" He glanced to his friends and nodded, regaining his composure. "The sooner we're done, the sooner we leave. So let's go!"

And that was that. Just get to where they needed to go. And even in the face of how changed and wrong this planet looked, he still recognized the paths. Memories threatened to surface... no! Not now! He won't think of this now. He mustn't. Just... get where you found Galaxia, actually pay attention to the murals this time, maybe find other stuff, get out fast.

Yet, even as determined as he was, he couldn't help but notice as he got closer. There had been no vegetation last time he had come to this planet. What he was looking at was... vegetation, right? Those were... trees, right? He wasn't sure. The closer he got to the cave, the more... wrong it felt.

Everything was so dark and yet, he was seeing everything as if it was the brightest of days. The trees, or maybe they were large veins somehow plunging in and out of the air itself, were a blinding shade of white. He stared at the strangely scrawny things, at their leaves... the red... leaves... with irises... that bored into his mind...

**_and wANt YoU To Go AwAY_**

Galaxia was shining brightly. Even through its sheath, it was shining enough that he noticed its faint glow. He took it out and the whispers stopped as suddenly as they had started. He blinked. He couldn't see any more clearly than before since he could see clearly to start with and yet, somehow, he felt as if the blade was glowing brightly, covering his entire body in light and that of his friends.

There was something wrong with this planet. Something seriously, awfully, horribly wrong.

It reminded him of the Dark Matters, of their disgusting slimy touch and yet, somehow, it was even stronger. For some reason, now that he was covered in light, he almost felt like throwing up from how disgusting the feeling was. And every time he tried to look at the strange leaves on what he thought were trees, he got a splitting headache.

"No one look at the trees!" Sword suddenly spoke up. "Sir, I don't know what Galaxia is doing but I suggest we all stay close. I don't think I was alone in hearing those whispers until you unsheated it."

"Whatever kind of corruption the Dark Matters did to this world, it's really impressive. I don't think Nightmare ever twisted a world like this before..." muttered Blade to himself as the group continued its journey.

Knuckle Joe and Silicia could both confirm it. They had never seen something like this before in their lives and frankly, they were not eager to see more.

The farther they got, the stranger things got. Strange trees that truly weren't. A thick darkness that you somehow could see through. Malformed landscape and skies. A deformed, split up sun. The path that led to the cave where Mety had first found Galaxia seemed covered in stone, new stones that hadn't been there before, pure white one. What seemed to be crystal was growing. And then, there were... the symbols.

Black bars, spike-like characters, nonsensical and angular letters. The language writen on the crystals was like nothing he had ever seen and the very moment he laid his eyes on them, he felt a slight buzzing in his mind. Then he paid attention and he realized they were a chorus of barely audible screams of pain. And what sounded like children sobbing. And... and...

He didn't look at another crystal again.

He was almost thankful when he stepped inside the cave. Inside, one of the worst events in his entire life had taken place and yet, the planet had just felt so wrong that it was almost a relief by comparison. Of course, that relief was washed away when he remembered exactly what had happened in there.

Well, almost entirely...

Galaxia had burnt his paw when he had laid it on it the first time. It had burnt so badly, so deeply. It had felt he was a demon beast and wanted him to burn. But he had wanted to be something else, to be better, to... to not be hated, to not make others sad. And the blade had, somehow, for a brief moment, allowed him to grasp it. It had stopped burning his paws.

And now, here he was, in the darkness of this cave, a natural darkness that actually prevented him from seeing beyond Galaxia's light radius. But he did not need to see much, not yet. He remembered all too well the path he had taken that day...

The pedestal on which the blade had been sealed greeted him like an old friend. In a world twisted by something vile, it remained intact. As did the walls surrounding it, almost as if to protect it.

"Well, here we are. I'm gonna take a look."

And take a look he did. He had never really noticed back then. Rock was rock, right? But as he scrapped the edge of the stone, it fell off easily, like dust. A strange shape greeted him. So he kept scratching with the flat edge of Galaxia's blade, until he realized what he was looking at it. A stone drawing. Hyeroglyph or something like that? He don't know the spelling, probably should check sometimes. Maybe.

But he knew what it was. A part of a record, a record embedded in stone to make absolutely, totally, entirely sure it will never be forgotten. An attempt at immortalizing a tale, an event. Out of the Ancients' entire legacy, this was what they had chosen to immortalize along all else, to enshrine with their final gift to future generations. And so, Mety and the others got to work, scrapping off the protective dull rock that covered the ancient message.

It didn't take that long, though Mety took great care not to damage the symbols. This record was unique and probably held answers he desperately needed. Besides, he would not have the opportunity to return to this world and given what the Dark Matters did to it? He wasn't sure he'd ever want to return even if he could.

Part of the images, he easily recognized. A caped fellow with long horns, with stars inside. Nightmare, the ruler of darkness. It shown countless figures facing him, one wielding a familiar stick with a star at its end. It was probably an inscription detailing the prophecy. But something was off about it...

He was standing in the middle of the room. There were images before and after Nightmare. And as he looked to the left... the images were different.

Wait! This crystal... the wings... it looked like a Star Warrior, an important one. He looked further and indeed, he was. It showed this warrior driving a lance into Nightmare, the fiend screaming. This was the warrior meant to defeat Nightmare... the Galactic Knight!

He retraced his steps. The stars... he had to identify the location! Come on, Mety! You remember your star charts right? Okay, so the stars are actually depicted behind the crystal. There's a triangle of stars there... another shape there... and...

Wait! He does know where that is! So that means... maybe... maybe the Galactic Warrior may be there?

"Wait... those look like Dark Matters!" Knuckle Joe's surprised statement instantly grabbed Mety's attention.

He approached the other end of the murals and indeed, there they were. What seemed to be the image of... something horrible, something he could barely describe. A mass of tentacles and everything wrong he could think of, a mass of dull eyes all over at all the wrong places. Familiar one-eyed spheres were splitting away from the mass, tearing through representations of what were probably the sapient species from the Ancients' times. Right next, it showed what appeared to be ships fighting those giant masses... and losing. And the closer he walked toward the Nightmare image, the more desperate the fight was depicted.

This was chronological, he realized. If the images on the other side shown Nightmare being defeated, those on this side shown the origins of the prophecy. But... what could be the Dark Matters' connection to Nightmare? What was the cause of this? He walked further in that direction, to find how it all begun, what was the source of it all.

**_GeT oUT!_**

The entire cave shook. Before his very eyes, crystals tore themselves out of the walls, destroying the murals. "No! NO!" He wanted to know! He needed to know!

"DARK MATTERS!"

Knuckle Joe dove out of the way right as he gave the warning, the wall crumbling as a full dozen of Dark Matters dove right at him, forming a large living wall. Blade and Sword both stepped back only for the entire back wall to collapse as what had to be hundreds of the things formed a solid wall of black and eyes. The wall wobbled and then hundreds of thin tentacles shot out, each splitting into the shapes of massive, clawed hands.

"RUN!" Normally, Blade's call to run would be due to him and his brother not being exactly the best fighters. This time, everyone agreed.

Even as they ran, the ground broke up, large abysses forming. But the crevices were not holes in the ground. From the abysses, endless red could be seen, screaming rising out of them, an endless mass of mouths, claws, and eyes rising. Dark Matters poured from the walls and ceiling, merging and mixing into malformed tentacles and hands.

Silicia leapt over one of the gaping abysses, barely missing being grabbed by one of the massive hands that was quickly rising out of the hole. At least, she thought it was a hole. But then, holes in the ground didn't seem to lead to dimensions apparently made out of pain. And Dark Matters.

As they barely managed to make it outside, the world seemed to have gone mad. Literally mad.

The skies were shaking and rolling, forming horrifying shapes as the clouds outright formed the shapes of gigantic hands and tentacles, diving straight for him. The very skies were tearing apart into monstrous swarms... swarms of Dark Matters. Thousands, maybe even millions of them. All diving straight at them.

The very ground was going crazy too. The mountains lifted all the way to the skies, becoming impossibly thin needle-like spines. The mountains no longer merely formed jaws, they outright roared and barked at them. The ground, skies, everything was diving at them in a single-minded, all-consuming rage.

The trees... pumped, somehow. They pumped and twitched, like twitching blood vessels on an enraged being's forehead. And this was what they were witnessing. An entire planet somehow coming to life with one feeling. Hatred. All of it directed at them.

They ran. They ran faster than they had ever ran in their lives. Mety had often found out, ever since he had abandoned the mask, that he actually run faster than he ever thought possible. Something about the threat of death mixed with actually wanting to live. But as an entire planet literally came to life and decided it wanted him dead, he somehow found himself reconsidering the definition of pure, raw, unadulterated terror. He obviously had never know its true definition until now.

"DON'T LOOK BACK! JUST RUN!" Sword would forever wonder onward until the end of his days why he chose not to listen to Knuckle Joe.

The cave was gone. The world itself behind them was gone. What was there was a maw, as tall as the tallest spire, and the millions of eyes screaming in fury. An invincible living shockwave of hands, blades, claws, mouths, and screaming abominations that the sane mind could not hope to comprehend.

But they never stopped running.

How fast could they get their ship to take off? Turn out that they could get it off this planet in a record time, actually.

Yet even as the planet lifted off, the very atmosphere of the planet deformed itself into a single, kilometers-wide clawed hand. Eyes, larger than cities, opened all over the stratosphere of the planet as the very world itself attempted to snatch the escaping ship out of existence. Its fingers grasped nothing as the ship engaged its faster than light drive and vanished.

* * *

><p>"They escaped. They shouldn't have. They have seen too much." Dedede gritted his teeth, his eyes narrowing.<p>

"But just enough for our purposes." Escargoon stated, the two staring at the screen, the only source of illumination in the room. "In the end, they are but pawns. If they fail, it serves our purposes. If they succeed, it also serve our purposes. In the end, their free will is but an illusion."

"I am still uncomfortable with the blessed one getting to witness what we are truly capable of. In many timelines, this has tipped things in his favor." pondered the king aloud.

"But not in this one. Our master is not bound by fleeting, imperfect concepts like time or space."

"But we are." said Dedede. "Our master require an anchor to manifest as we do, it is why he has taken this body and birthed us into this universe. And so long as we are bound to the concept of life, our sight is limited by reality's absurd, arbitrary rules. I am experiencing worry over the probability that the blessed one may hinder our plans."

"Irrelevant, ultimately." Escargoon said, his tone ever flat and untouched by emotion. "The prophecy has weakened this universe. They no longer have the strength to stop us. Even Galaxia's light will not hold us off forever. Our presence within this reality grows by the minute."

Silence. Speech had been used to vent emotions at the recent events. With them vented, there was no need for such an inefficient communication method as speech. And thus, the collective communicated through the sharing of thoughts, will, and desires.

The half-breed had caught a brief, fleeting glimpse of the truth. In the end, it would not matter. Zero is coming. It cannot be stopped now. If the half-breed fails, Zero's will shall be fulfilled. If the half-breed succeeds, Zero's will shall be fulfilled. Such is the beauty of their master's schemes. Take the little girl, Fumu, or whatever her name is. They have "forgotten" to reinforce the doors, allowing her to listen to a small, insignificant part of their conversation.

Of course, she heard none of the important parts and do not know that all within the palace and many among the population have been freed from the burden of free will, including her parents. If she tries to find out what Dedede is planning, whether he truly is going to do something bad again, it will serve their purposes. If she tries to warn everyone, it will serve their purposes. And if she does nothing, it will serve their purposes.

Her free will is an illusion. There is no decision she can take that will not advance their agenda. If they were lesser beings, it would bring them smug satisfaction. As it stands, this is nothing but the inescapable march toward the fulfillment of Zero's absolute and divine will.

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><p><strong>TO BE CONTINUED...<strong>


End file.
